sewage sludge processing machinery

As EPA Considers Cancer Links to Nitrates in Drinking Water, Industry Downplays the Risks

January 30, 2025 | Source: U.S. Right to Know | by Natasha Gilbert

Among all the contaminants in drinking water, nitrates are one of the most pervasive. They leach from chemical fertilizers and animal manure to pollute groundwater, rivers, and streams. Doctors have long known that, in infants, nitrates can lead to blue baby syndrome—a potentially fatal blood condition that starves the body of oxygen. But now scientists and health advocates are worried that nitrates could also cause cancer. They suggest it could be behind hundreds of cases in farming states across the U.S.

To address these concerns, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began a crucial and long-awaited assessment of the health risks of nitrates in 2017. Scientists and public health advocates hope the assessment will spur the EPA to tighten restrictions on nitrates in drinking water. Legal limits were set over thirty years ago, but scientists and advocates warn that the limits are outdated and don’t protect against cancer. They point to spiking cancer rates in farming states like Iowa and Minnesota, where nitrate contamination can reach sky-high levels. They also highlight studies that suggest the risk of dying is higher by 73 percent compared to water without nitrates, even when nitrates are at low levels in drinking water.

“Nitrate pollution from industrial-scale agricultural practices… poses an imminent and substantial endangerment to communities across the country,” wrote a coalition of environment and community advocates in a letter to the EPA in October 2024.