1 in 5 Americans may have a dangerous toxin in their tap water

Over 62 million Americans — roughly 1 in 5 people — may be exposed to potentially dangerous levels of nitrates in their tap water, a new report has shown.

A compound of nitrogen and oxygen found naturally in air, water, soil and plants, nitrates become a health risk when rainfall causes nitrogen-rich fertilizers used in agriculture to leach into groundwater, streams and rivers and end up in public water systems miles downstream.

Invisible, tasteless and odorless, nitrates at low concentrations in drinking water have been linked to thyroid disease, gastric, kidney, bladder and colon cancers, preterm