Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

City of Beaverton

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)

8

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.469 ppm110.469 ppm
20190.470 ppm110.470 ppm
20200.350 ppm110.350 ppm
20210.201 ppm110.201 ppm
20220.432 ppm110.432 ppm
20230.154 ppm76ND - 0.400 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
2018-07-31821201001-I0.469 ppm
2019-06-11916200701-I0.470 ppm
2020-06-03015501701-I0.350 ppm
2021-05-101101101-I0.201 ppm
2022-06-222173004-01-I0.432 ppm
2023-05-18380-48067-1-I0.220 ppm
2023-07-12380-54534-1-I0.0560 ppm
2023-09-12380-62962-1-I0.0690 ppm
2023-09-25380-64305-3-I0.400 ppm
2023-09-25380-64305-2-I0.250 ppm
2023-09-25380-64305-1-I0.0830 ppm
2023-09-29380-64916-1-IND