I was researching the effect of Iowa farm runoff and the huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexi..America and found this gem updated a week ago. Floridians should also be concerned with the pollution of nitrates from the sugar cane farms.
Increasing use of nitrogen-based fertilizer over the last half-century is putting Americans' health at risk. Excess nitrate in drinking water increases the risk of cancer, birth defects and thyroid disease.
The Environmental Protection Agency limits how much nitrate can be present in drinking water: a maximum of 10 milligrams per liter. But growing research ties serious health risks to nitrate levels far below that federal limit.
The EPA has spent more than two decades urging states to contain the runoff from Midwest farms that flows into rivers, sources for drinking water, and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. There, the pollution contributes to a dead zone where fish and other wildlife can't survive.
It's a critical concern in Iowa, which has one of the highest rates of nitrate pollution in the United States. Iowa also has the second-highest cancer rate in the country. Studies have linked high nitrate levels in Iowa water to kidney, bladder, thyroid, and other cancers.
Increasing use of nitrogen-based fertilizer over the last half-century is putting Americans' health at risk. Excess nitrate in drinking water increases the risk of cancer, birth defects and thyroid disease.
The Environmental Protection Agency limits how much nitrate can be present in drinking water: a maximum of 10 milligrams per liter. But growing research ties serious health risks to nitrate levels far below that federal limit.
The EPA has spent more than two decades urging states to contain the runoff from Midwest farms that flows into rivers, sources for drinking water, and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. There, the pollution contributes to a dead zone where fish and other wildlife can't survive.
It's a critical concern in Iowa, which has one of the highest rates of nitrate pollution in the United States. Iowa also has the second-highest cancer rate in the country. Studies have linked high nitrate levels in Iowa water to kidney, bladder, thyroid, and other cancers.
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