Researches of the nitrates and nitrites in some well waters from rural area in correlation with methoglobinemia morbidity.

UNLABELLED

Ground water is a major source of public supply for the rural population and in some areas, it is only source of available water. It is well known the toxic action of nitrate upon organisms, by formatting methemoglobin and N-nitroso compounds.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In this study it was investigated the presence of nitrates and nitrites in same well waters, mountain and hill areas in Neamţ district. The chemical parameters were carried out by following standard methods. The statistical analysis includes descriptive statistics of the water quality parameters.

RESULTS

It is noticed high values of the nitrate concentrations, over Maximum Admissible Concentration (MAC), explained by excessive use of agricultural synthetic fertilizer and telluric nitrogen. It was registered a number of 38 cases of methemoglobinemia in small children with artificial nutrition, all cases from hill area. The maximum methemoglobin level was 60% and the minimum value of nitrate concentration in the water samples was 396 mg NO3-/L.

CONCLUSIONS

We established a direct correlation between the level of methemoglobin and the nitrate concentrations in water samples. It is recommended the use well waters with maximum 48 mg/L nitrates content.