WHO Urged to Review Nitrate Drinking Water Limit
The groups say current rules are outdated and cite evidence linking low-level nitrate exposure to cancer and adverse birth outcomes.
- On Tuesday, 85 global organizations, including Greenpeace International and the World Organization of Family Doctors , called on the World Health Organization to revise nitrate standards in drinking water, arguing current guidelines ignore recent scientific evidence of potential health risks.
- Current WHO guidelines date to 1958 and allow 50 mg/L, set specifically to prevent 'blue-baby syndrome,' a deadly blood disorder. Signatories warn these standards are 'outdated' and fail to address chronic, low-level exposure risks including colorectal cancer and adverse birth outcomes.
- An expert panel recommended reducing the nitrate limit to 6.0 mg/L—nearly 10 times below the current benchmark—a standard Denmark committed to earlier in 2026. Studies link nitrate exposure below current limits to adverse birth outcomes.
- Amanda Larsson, the global project lead for agriculture at Greenpeace, insisted 'we cannot protect human health without protecting the groundwater.' Signatories urge the United Nations to include nitrate in upcoming drinking water guideline reviews.
- Updating these guidelines is 'vital for global policy reform,' the groups stated. They advocate for curbing intensive livestock farming, though farmers say they are already working to reduce nitrogen loss through precision practices.
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More than 80 environmental and health organisations are calling on the WHO to tighten the nitrate limit of 50 milligrams per litre, which has remained unchanged since 1958.
Groups urge WHO to review ‘outdated’ drinking water standards
Health and environmental groups have urged the World Health Organization (WHO) to overhaul its decades-old nitrate limit for drinking water, saying that even low levels of nitrate can be linked to cancer and premature birth.
More than 80 environmental and health organisations from all over the world are calling for the World Health Organization (WHO) to tighten its unchanged limit for nitrate in drinking water for decades. In an open letter published on Tuesday, organisations such as Greenpeace International and the global society for general and family medicine (Wonca) refer to new scientific findings on health threats caused by increased exposure.
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