Global Health Groups Urge WHO to Tighten Drinking Water Nitrate Limits

NEW YORK: (News Desk) – Eighty-five global health and environmental organisations have urged the World Health Organization (WHO) to revise its decades-old guidelines on nitrate levels in drinking water, saying they do not reflect emerging scientific evidence about potential long-term health risks.

In an open letter, the organisations, including Greenpeace International and the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), called on the UN health agency to include nitrate in its upcoming review of drinking water standards.

Nitrate, a contaminant associated with intensive agricultural practices, is considered particularly harmful to children and pregnant women. However, the current WHO guideline, set in 1958, allows a maximum concentration of 50 milligrams per litre of nitrate, equivalent to 11.3 milligrams per litre of nitrate-nitrogen.

The existing limit was originally established to prevent blue baby syndrome, a potentially fatal condition that reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen.

The organisations argue that the standard has not been revised despite epidemiological evidence suggesting that prolonged exposure to low levels of nitrate may be linked to serious health problems, including colorectal cancer and adverse birth outcomes.

“Studies now link nitrate in drinking water, at levels well below the current WHO limit, to bowel cancer and premature birth,” said WONCA Chair Pratyush Kumar in a joint statement.

Calls for Decisive Action

The letter was issued on WHO’s annual One Health Day, which highlights the links between human, animal, plant and environmental health.

Citing surface water modelling, the organisations warned that hundreds of millions of people worldwide may be exposed to elevated nitrate levels.

Greenpeace’s Global Project Lead for Agriculture, Amanda Larsson, said clean drinking water should be protected through stronger action to tackle pollution.

The organisations urged governments to curb the expansion of intensive livestock farming and support producers in adopting more environmentally sustainable agricultural practices.

They also cited findings published last year by an expert panel commissioned by the Danish government, which concluded that the existing international standard was insufficient to protect public health.

The panel recommended lowering the nitrate limit to 6.0 milligrams per litre, a level nearly ten times lower than the current WHO benchmark. Denmark committed to the proposed reduction earlier this year.

The organisations said many countries base their drinking water standards on WHO recommendations, making an update to the guidelines important for wider changes in global water safety policies.