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  • Will boiling my water help?

    No. Boiling water will NOT reduce nitrate levels. In fact, it will make the level of nitrate worse because some of the water will evaporate but the nitrate will not. This increases the concentration of nitrate in water.

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  • What is the research workshop that National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the national academies are planning in East Palestine and the greater community?

    NIH is putting plans in place to work with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to hold a workshop. The purpose of the workshop is to explore potential research priorities to understand the short- and longterm health impacts of the Norfolk Southern Train Derailment. The workshop will be…

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  • Is it safe to shower or bathe in water if it is over the nitrate MCL of 10 mg/L?

    Nitrate is only a concern for ingestion (eating and drinking). It is not absorbed through your skin. People who install filter systems for nitrate often install them just for their kitchen sink faucet, and they use that faucet for their cooking and drinking water.

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  • What should I do if my water has elevated nitrates and/or exceeds the MCL?

    If nitrate exceeds the MCL of 10 mg/L, you should find a safe alternative drinking water supply. The quickest thing to do is to begin using bottled water for drinking. Another option is to install a treatment that will remove nitrate from your water such as reverse osmosis or a…

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  • Why is nitrate contamination a concern?

    Nitrate is an acute contaminant, meaning that health effects can occur immediately (I.e. within hours or days) of short-term exposure. Too much nitrate in your body makes it harder for red blood cells to carry oxygen. While most people recover quickly, this can be very dangerous for infants and some…

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  • The FTP download is not working; what do I do?

    Option 1:  The FTP site is active, but some browsers are no longer supporting the ftp:// protocol.  You can access the same data by replacing “ ftp://newftp.epa.gov / ” with  “ https://gaftp.epa.gov/ ” and keep the rest of the URL the same.  The filenames you see will be shorter, but…

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  • The point source maps are not working on the NEI data tab. What do I do?

    The point source maps use a web service provided by Envirofacts. Please report your problem to the Envirofacts “Contact Us” page here .

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  • Why are street cleaners no longer watering Taggart the same way they used to?

    Street cleaners now lightly mist Taggart with water before using a vacuum truck to collect material from the road. Crews adopted this approach to keep sediment and dust out of the storm drains and Sulphur Run.

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  • I use a carbon filter. Will this help?

    Activated carbon filters, such as those in a “Brita” water pitcher, DO NOT remove nitrates.

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  • What are the possible health effects of nitrate exposure?

    Short-term: Excessive levels of nitrate in drinking water have caused serious illness and sometimes death. The serious illness in infants is due to the conversion of nitrate to nitrite by the body, which can interfere with the oxygen-carrying capacity of the child’s blood leading to blue baby syndrome (methemoglobinemia). This…

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  • What is nitrate?

    Nitrate (NO3) is a compound of nitrogen and oxygen naturally found in air, soil, water, and some food. Plants and animals require nitrates for their survival and growth, and the human body also produces this compound. In industry, nitrate is used as fertilizers for crops and lawns. Additionally, nitrates are…

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  • How do I download the data from the “Data Summaries” tab on the NEI data pages?

    On these pages after you run a query, there should be icons that at the top of the data table generated by your query. These icons look like this: COPY CSV EXCEL PDF PRINT If these icons do not appear, it is because Adobe Flash is being blocked by your…

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  • Will cleaning the creeks be the last action taken at Sulphur Run and Leslie Run?

    EPA’s Order requires detailed identification (characterization) of contamination in Sulphur Run and Leslie Run. The stream characterization will include surface water and sediment testing for contaminants of concern including vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate. This stream characterization will find any areas of remaining contamination and inform the next steps for…

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