Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrite

Southbury Training School

Nitrite, closely related to the fertilizer chemical nitrate, comes from urban runoff and from fertilizer applied to agricultural lands to pollute drinking water. Nitrite is significantly more toxic than nitrate. Excessive nitrite in water can cause oxygen deprivation in infants and increase the risk of cancer.

 

8

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

0

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018ND20ND
2019ND20ND
2020ND10ND
2021ND20ND
2022ND10ND
2023N/A00N/A

ppm = parts per million

State, National, and Health Guidelines for Drinking Water

EPA Maximum Contaminant
Level (MCL): 1 ppm

The legal limit for nitrite, established in 1991, was based on the rate of conversion of ingested nitrate into nitrite in adults. This limit may not fully protect against the risk of cancer due to nitrite exposure.

ppm = parts per million

All test results

Date Lab ID Result
2018-03-01309878GEND
2018-09-06316024GEND
2019-02-21321210GEND
2019-02-21321213GEND
2020-02-06331921GEND
2021-02-04CH56557ND
2021-08-19CJ00590ND
2022-12-14CN05263ND