Birth defects linked to drinking water nitrate pollution

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Birth defects linked to drinking water nitrate pollution
July 16, 2013
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Source: McClatchy

An extensive new study confirms a long-suspected link between crippling birth defects and the nitrate contamination that threatens drinking water for 250,000 people in the San Joaquin Valley.

The study took place in the Midwest, but its findings hit hard in the Valley, where research last year showed farm-related nitrate pollution is extensive and expanding in the underground water of Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties.

The birth defects involved include spina bifida, cleft palate and missing limbs.

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The study from Texas A&M was published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives, making the strongest case to date about nitrates and birth defects.

Researchers looked at real-world situations, locating and contacting thousands of mothers using the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Participants' addresses were matched to drinking-water sources.

"We went beyond other studies to find out how much water pregnant women were drinking at home and at work," said lead scientist Jean Brender, associate dean for research and a professor at the Texas A&M Health Science Center's School of Rural Public Health.

The study focused on Iowa and Texas where nitrate problems are found in the groundwater. Nitrates can come from farm fertilizers and dairy waste. Other sources include septic systems, sewage treatment and decaying vegetation.
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