Blue babies and nitrate-contaminated well water
Open accessAbstract
The use of nitrate-contaminated drinking water to prepare infant formula is a well-known risk factor for infant methemoglobinemia. Affected infants develop a peculiar blue-gray skin color and may become irritable or lethargic, depending on the severity of their condition. The condition can progress rapidly to cause coma and death if it is not recognized and treated appropriately. Two cases of blue baby syndrome were recently investigated. Both cases involved infants who became ill after being fed formula that was reconstituted with water from private wells. Water samples collected from these wells during the infants' illnesses contained nitrate-nitrogen concentrations of 22.9 and 27.4 mg/L.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Very high concentrations of nitrate in drinking water may cause methemoglobinemia in infants.
“Very high concentrations of nitrate in drinking water may cause methemoglobinemia in infants (blue baby syndrome) [41].”
From NO-Rich Diet for Lifestyle-Related Diseases (2015) · cites this paper as [41]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Davidson, D., Barefield, E. S., Kattwinkel, J., Dudell, G. G., Damask, M. C., Straube, R., Rhines, J., Chang, C., & the I-NO/PPHN Study Group (1998) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.101.3.325 · Cited by 354 · see citing works
Drinking Water Nitrate and the Risk of Non-Hodgkinʼs Lymphoma
Ward, M. H., Mark, S. D., Cantor, K. P., Weisenburger, D. D., Correa, A., & Zahm, S. H. (1996) · Epidemiology · doi:10.1097/00001648-199609000-00003 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Infantile methemoglobinemia: Reexamining the role of drinking water nitrates
Avery, A. A. (1999) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.99107583 · Cited by 218 · see citing works
Blood nitrates and infantile methemoglobinemia
Hegesh, E., & Shiloah, J. (1982) · Clinica Chimica Acta · doi:10.1016/0009-8981(82)90187-5 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Calcium, Magnesium, and Nitrate in Drinking Water and Gastric Cancer Mortality
Yang, C., Cheng, M., Tsai, S., & Hsieh, Y. (1998) · Japanese Journal of Cancer Research · doi:10.1111/j.1349-7006.1998.tb00539.x · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Consumption of drinking water with high nitrate levels causes hypertrophy of the thyroid
van Maanen, J. M. S., Vries, A. V. D., Mulder, K., de Baets, M., Menheere, P. P. C. A., van der Heide, D., Mertens, P. L. J. M., & Kleinjans, J. C. S. (1994) · Toxicology Letters · doi:10.1016/0378-4274(94)90050-7 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Parslow, R. C., McKinney, P. A., Law, G. R., Staines, A. S., Williams, R., & Bodansky, H. J. (1997) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s001250050714 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Nitrate Levels in Community Drinking Waters and Risk of IDDM: An ecological analysis
Kostraba, J. N., Gay, E. C., Rewers, M., & Hamman, R. F. (1992) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/diacare.15.11.1505 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Impact of nitrates in drinking water on cancer mortality in Valencia, Spain
Morales‐Suárez‐Varela, M., González, A. L., & Ml, T. P. (1995) · European Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/bf01719941 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Nitrate and Nitrite Intake and the Risk for Type 1 Diabetes in Finnish Children
Virtanen, S. M., Jaakkola, L., Räsänen, L., Ylönen, K., Aro, A., Lounamaa, R., Åkerblom, H. K., Tuomilehto, J., & Childhood Diabetes in Finland Study Group (1994) · Diabetic Medicine · doi:10.1111/j.1464-5491.1994.tb00328.x · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Krafte‐Jacobs, B., Brilli, R. J., Szabó, C., Denenberg, A. G., Moore, L., & Salzman, A. L. (1997) · Critical Care Medicine · doi:10.1097/00003246-199709000-00030 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Barrett, J. H., Parslow, R. C., McKinney, P. A., Law, G. R., & Forman, D. (1998) · Cancer Causes & Control · doi:10.1023/a:1008878126535 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
WHEN PATIENTS BECOME CYANOTIC: ACQUIRED METHEMOGLOBINEMIA
WILBURN-GOO, D., & Lloyd, L. M. (1999) · The Journal of the American Dental Association · doi:10.14219/jada.archive.1999.0306 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Endogenous Methemoglobinemia Associated with Diarrheal Disease in Infancy
Hanukoglu, A., & Danon, P. N. (1996) · Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition · doi:10.1097/00005176-199607000-00001 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Methylene Blue by Intraosseous Infusion for Methemoglobinemia
Herman, M. I., Chyka, P. A., Butler, A. Y., & Rieger, S. E. (1999) · Annals of Emergency Medicine · doi:10.1016/s0196-0644(99)70427-0 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Xu, G., Song, P., & Reed, P. I. (1992) · European Journal of Cancer Prevention · doi:10.1097/00008469-199210000-00007 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Methaemoglobinaemia among neonates in a neonatal intensive care unit
Hjelt, K., Lund, J., Scherling, B., et al. (1995) · Acta Paediatrica · doi:10.1111/j.1651-2227.1995.tb13650.x · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Infant Methemoglobinemia in the Transylvania Region of Romania
Ayebo, A., Kross, B. C., Vlad, M., & Sinca, A. (1997) · International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health · doi:10.1179/oeh.1997.3.1.20 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Lutyński, R., Steczek-Wojdyła, M., Wojdyła, Z., et al. (1996) · PubMed · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- [3]3. Methemoglobinemia in an infant—Wisconsin 1992. MMWR 42(12):217–219 (1993).
- [4]4. Bosch HM, Rosenfield AB, Huston R, Shipman HR, Woodward FL. Methemoglobinemia and Minnesota well supplies. JAWWA 42(2):161–170 (1950).
- [6]6. Johnson CJ, Bonrud P. Methemoglobinemia: is it coming back to haunt us? Health Environ Digest 1(12):3–4 (1988).
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Camargo, J. A., & Alonso, Á. (2006) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2006.05.002 · Cited by 2,248 · see citing works
Nitrate in vegetables: toxicity, content, intake and EC regulation
Santamaria, P. (2006) · Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture · doi:10.1002/jsfa.2351 · Cited by 1,064 · see citing works
Nitrate and periplasmic nitrate reductases
Sparacino-Watkins, C., Stolz, J. F., & Basu, P. (2014) · Chem. Soc. Rev. · doi:10.1039/c3cs60249d · Cited by 426 · see citing works
Health Implications of Exposure to Environmental Nitrogenous Compounds
Mensinga, T. T., Speijers, G. J. A., & Meulenbelt, J. (2003) · Toxicological Reviews · doi:10.2165/00139709-200322010-00005 · Cited by 347 · see citing works
Citrus By-Products: Valuable Source of Bioactive Compounds for Food Applications
Andrade, M. A., Barbosa, C. H., Shah, M. A., Ahmad, N., Vilarinho, F., Khwaldia, K., Silva, A. S., & Ramos, F. (2022) · Antioxidants · doi:10.3390/antiox12010038 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
Dietary Nitrate, Nitric Oxide, and Cardiovascular Health
Bondonno, C. P., Croft, K. D., & Hodgson, J. M. (2016) · Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition · doi:10.1080/10408398.2013.811212 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Reactions of NO and nitrite with heme models and proteins
Ford, P. C. (2010) · Inorganic Chemistry · doi:10.1021/ic902073z · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Protective effect of salivary nitrate and microbial nitrate reductase activity against caries
Doel, J. J., Hector, M. P., Amirtham, C. V., Al‐Anzan, L. A., Benjamin, N., & Allaker, R. P. (2004) · European Journal Of Oral Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0722.2004.00153.x · Cited by 131 · see citing works
NO-Rich Diet for Lifestyle-Related Diseases
Kobayashi, J., Ohtake, K., & Uchida, H. (2015) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu7064911 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Koopman, J. E., Buijs, M. J., Brandt, B. W., Keijser, B. J. F., Crielaard, W., & Zaura, E. (2016) · Microbial Ecology · doi:10.1007/s00248-016-0775-z · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Total salivary nitrates and nitrites in oral health and periodontal disease
Sánchez, G. A., Miozza, V. A., Delgado, A., & Busch, L. (2014) · Nitric Oxide · doi:10.1016/j.niox.2013.10.012 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Andrews, T. J., Ybarra, V., & Matthews, L. L. (2013) · Medical Anthropology Quarterly · doi:10.1111/maq.12048 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Zhou, J., Liu, H., Hu, L., Kagami, H., & Wang, S. (2024) · Medicine Plus · doi:10.1016/j.medp.2023.100003 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Nitrite-Dependent Nitric Oxide Production Pathway: Diversity of NO Production Systems
Yamasaki, H., Watanabe, N. S., Fukuto, J., & Cohen, M. F. (2014) · Oxidative Stress in Applied Basic Research and Clinical Practice · doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-0679-6_3 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
- Authors
- Knobeloch, L., Salna, B., Hogan, A., Postle, J., & Anderson, H.
- Affiliations
- Wisconsin Department of Health Services (US)
- ORCID
- Anderson, H
- Venue
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2000-07-01
- Volume
- 108
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 675-678
- ISSN
- 0091-6765 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-9924
- OpenAlex
- W2074672298
- Cited by
- 775
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 33 · 2025: 52 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 51 · 2020: 56 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 48 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 35 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 36 · 2012: 30
- FWCI
- 6.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- public-domain
- creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (vor, 6390 d)
- Locations
- Environmental Health Perspectives (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Methemoglobinemia and Tumor Lysis Syndrome
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Water Treatment and Disinfection
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Water Quality and Resources Studies
- Keywords
- blue baby syndrome, methemoglobinemia, nitrate contamination, drinking water, infant formula, private wells, nitrate nitrogen, infant health, waterborne diseases
- MeSH terms
- Environmental Exposure, Female, Humans, Infant, Infant Food, Infant, Newborn, Infant, Newborn, Diseases, Male, Methemoglobinemia, Nitrates, Syndrome, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Water Supply
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
