Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Newport

Nitrate, a fertilizer chemical, frequently contaminates drinking water due to agricultural and urban runoff, and discharges from municipal wastewater treatment plants and septic tanks. Excessive nitrate in water can cause oxygen deprivation in infants and increase the risk of cancer. Click here to read more about nitrate.

 

12

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

1

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.0450 ppm21ND - 0.0900 ppm
20190.110 ppm220.1000 ppm - 0.120 ppm
20200.130 ppm220.0600 ppm - 0.200 ppm
20210.0350 ppm21ND - 0.0700 ppm
2022ND20ND
20230.0500 ppm21ND - 0.1000 ppm

ppm = parts per million

State, National, and Health Guidelines for Drinking Water

EWG Health Guideline: 0.14 ppm

The EWG health guideline of 0.14 parts per million, or ppm, for nitrate and nitrite is based on the equivalent health guideline for nitrate, as defined in a peer-reviewed scientific study by EWG. This guideline represents a one-in-one-million annual cancer risk level.

EPA Maximum Contaminant
Level (MCL): 10 ppm

The legal limit for nitrate, established in 1962, was developed to protect infants from acute methemoglobinemia, a life-threatening disorder of oxygen transport in the body. This limit does not fully protect against the risk of cancer and harm to the developing fetus.

ppm = parts per million

All test results

Date Lab ID Result
2018-04-3018E0378-010.0900 ppm
2018-04-3018E0378-02ND
2019-09-2419I1400-010.1000 ppm
2019-09-2419I1400-020.120 ppm
2020-04-2920D1079-010.200 ppm
2020-04-2920D1079-020.0600 ppm
2021-05-0421E0098-010.0700 ppm
2021-05-0421E0098-02ND
2022-05-0922E0724-01ND
2022-05-0922E0724-02ND
2023-04-1723D0936-010.1000 ppm
2023-04-1723D0936-02ND