COLUMBUS, Ohio — City officials are warning parents not to give babies younger than 6 months tap water because of high nitrate levels.
A test showed slightly elevated levels of the contaminant caused by fertilizer runoff from farms and lawns, according to Department of Public Utilities spokesman George Zonders.
The city issued the nitrate advisory Monday afternoon for central and west Columbus, Grandview Heights, Grove City, Hilliard, Lincoln Village, Marble Cliff, Upper Arlington, Urbancrest, and Valleyview.
The tap water is safe for adults to consume, but it shouldn’t be given to babies younger than 6 months or used to make infant formula, juice or baby cereal.
According to a report on WBNS 10-TV, the Ohio Department of Health will make bottled water available to pregnant women and parents of infants below 6 months of age in the impacted areas.
Columbus Public Health began water distribution Monday at 240 Parsons Avenue and Franklin County Public Health will distribute water at Westland Mall, in front of the former Macy’s, 4141 W. Broad Street from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. daily as long as the advisory is in effect.
The advisory will remain in effect until further notice. Water in other parts of the city isn’t affected.
Although nitrate is essentially harmless to most people, it is an acute toxin for infants. High nitrate levels in water can cause methemoglobinemia or blue baby syndrome, a condition most common in infants below the age of 6 months when the child’s alkaline gastrointestinal tract favors the growth of nitrate-reducing bacteria, particularly in the stomach.
Who is at risk:
Infants below the age of 6 months
Pregnant women at or near week 30 of pregnancy
Individuals with hypochlorhydria
Individuals with inherited methemoglobinemia.
What to watch for:
Mild symptoms: cyanosis, weakness, tachycardia, headache, dizziness, fatigue, dyspnea and nausea. Severe symptoms: lethargy, brief loss of consciousness, cardiac arrhythmia, shock, convulsions, coma and death.