RISKS IN THE CONSUMPTION OF DRINKING WATER POLLUTED WITH NITRATES
MARIA PRISECARU 1, TINA OANA CRISTEA 2, IONUŢ STOICA 1, GABRIEL ALIN IOSOB 1, FLORIAN PRISECARU 3, LENUŢA RUSĂSCU 4, MARIA CĂLIN 2 1. University „Vasile Alecsandri” Bacau, Faculty of Biology, Marasesti Street, no. 157, Bacau, Romania, e-mail: prisecaru_maria@yahoo.com; ionut_stoica23@yahoo.com
2. Vegetable Research and Development Station Bacau, Calea Barladului, No. 220, 600388, Romania, e-mail: tinaoana@yahoo.com; sclbac@legumebac.ro;
3. Siret Water Directorate, 1 Cuza Voda Street, Bacau, Romania, e-mail: florin_prisecaru@yahoo.com;
4. Public Health Department of Bacau, 45 Vasile Alecsandri Street, Bacau, Romania, e-mail: elena_rusascu@yahoo.com
We investigated a number of 93 cases of acute nitrate poisoning in children of different sexes and ages, in urban and rural areas of Bacau County. The investigations were performed at the Public Health Department of Bacau, within the frame of the national prevention program for evaluating cases of acute infantile methemoglobinemia caused by water from well sources, over a period of nine years (2006-2014). For the determination of nitrates/nitrites in water was used the colorimetric method with indigo carmine and reading spectrophotometer. For patients, there was used the photometric dosage by means of the analyzer of urine strips - Labu Reader - strips with 10 parameters. The territorial distribution shows that, in some localities, during this period, there was only one case of acute poisoning. However, there were villages with more than 3 cases, respectively HorgeĹźti, Parincea, Corbasca with cases in these nine years, whereas the second risk group included Pancesti and Gura Vaii with 4 cases of poisoning. The dynamics of acute nitrate poisoning cases confirmed throughout the nine-year study indicates an annual decrease in the number of cases, which suggests efficient preventive measures by involving local government and health services in rural areas in achieving the objectives of the territorial health program called Disease prevention through the monitoring of causal factors in the living environment
