Is nitrate toxic?

As people in modern society pay more and more attention to their physical health, many friends know that consuming a large amount of nitrite will cause serious damage to our body, and at the same time will cause methemoglobinemia, and also induce cancer risk. But few friends know that nitrate will generate nitrite under the action of bacteria, so is nitrate poisonous? In response to this question raised by everyone, please learn about it together in the next period of time.

When people consume drinking water, vegetables, grains, fish, meat products, pickled cabbage, overnight cooked dishes, etc. that contain large amounts of nitrate and nitrite, the large amount of nitrite can cause direct poisoning, and nitrate can also be reduced to nitrite in the human body. Nitrite reacts with human blood to form methemoglobin, which causes the blood to lose its oxygen-carrying function and causes hypoxia poisoning. Mild cases include dizziness, palpitations, vomiting, and blue lips. Severe cases include confusion, convulsions, and rapid breathing. If rescue is not timely, it can be life-threatening. Not only that, nitrite reacts with secondary amines inside and outside the human body to form nitrosamines. When it reaches a certain dose in the human body, it is a carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic substance that can seriously endanger human health.

In order to prevent the harm of nitrates and nitrites, in addition to applying chemical fertilizers scientifically and rationally, prohibiting the use of sewage irrigation, and implementing environmental protection measures such as harmless treatment of sewage, garbage and feces to protect surface water and groundwater sources from nitrate and nitrite pollution, you should also try to eat less pickled, smoked, and cured fish, meat, sausages, bacon, ham, canned food, pickled cabbage, and vegetables that have been salted for a short time; do not buy vegetables that have been stored for too long, the other day, or have wilted; eat the vegetables bought on the same day; do not eat cooked vegetables overnight; do not store leftovers for a long time; do not accidentally ingest industrial nitrites (such as sodium nitrite) as table salt.

I believe that through the above learning, most of our friends have a deep understanding and knowledge about whether nitrates are toxic. Of course, I would like to remind everyone that in daily life, fruits and vegetables are the main sources of nitrate intake for the human body. In fact, the harm and toxicity of nitrate to the human body are relatively low, but we must prevent it from further generating nitrite.