| Blue Babies and Nitrate-Contaminated Well Water Lynda Knobeloch,1 Barbara Salna,2 Adam Hogan,3 Jeffrey Postle,4 and Henry Anderson1 1Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Madison, Wisconsin, USA; 2Columbia County Health Department and Human Services, Portage, Wisconsin, USA; 3Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, Wisconsin, USA; 4Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, Madison, Wisconsin, USA Abstract
    Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services,
Columbia County Health Department and Human Services,
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture The use of nitrate-contaminated drinking water to prepare infant formula is a well-known risk factor for infant methemoglobinemia. Affected infants develop a peculiar blue-gray skin color and may become irritable or lethargic, depending on the severity of their condition. The condition can progress rapidly to cause coma and death if it is not recognized and treated appropriately. Two cases of blue baby syndrome were recently investigated. Both cases involved infants who became ill after being fed formula that was reconstituted with water from private wells. Water samples collected from these wells during the infants' illnesses contained nitrate-nitrogen concentrations of 22.9 and 27.4 mg/L. Key words: blue baby syndrome, methemoglobinemia, nitrate, nitrate-contaminated well water. Environ Health Perspect 108:675-678 (2000) . [Online 6 June 2000] http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2000/108p675-678knobeloch/ abstract.html Address correspondence to L. Knobeloch, Division of Public Health, DHFS, 1 W. Wilson Street, Madison, WI 53703-3044 USA. Telephone: (608) 266-1251. Fax: (608) 267-2832. E-mail: knobelm@dhfs.state.wi.us Received 15 November 1999 ; accepted 14 March 2000.
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