Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Jennie Clarkson Home

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.

 

18

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

17

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.600 ppm110.600 ppm
20190.270 ppm110.270 ppm
20200.871 ppm440.483 ppm - 1.000 ppm
20210.747 ppm440.309 ppm - 2.00 ppm
20220.386 ppm440.000455 ppm - 0.790 ppm
20230.681 ppm440.540 ppm - 0.770 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
2018-11-064201450571NIT0.600 ppm
2019-06-254201558181-NIT0.270 ppm
2020-04-13AW06907-NIT0.483 ppm
2020-11-24AW22612-NIT1.000 ppm
2020-11-24AW22610-NIT1.000 ppm
2020-12-024201864501-NIT1.000 ppm
2021-01-25AX01621-NIT2.00 ppm
2021-07-20AX14326-NIT0.309 ppm
2021-07-20AX14328-NIT0.357 ppm
2021-12-144202131631-NIT0.320 ppm
2022-01-19AY01105-NIT0.323 ppm
2022-08-23AY14974-NIT0.430 ppm
2022-08-23AY14972-NIT0.000455 ppm
2022-12-0922L1480-01-NIT0.790 ppm
2023-01-23AZ01381-NIT0.770 ppm
2023-09-19AZ17307-NIT0.709 ppm
2023-09-19AZ17305-NIT0.704 ppm
2023-10-19CP29904-NIT0.540 ppm