{"id":77168,"date":"2026-05-18T14:46:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T02:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?p=77168"},"modified":"2026-05-18T14:46:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T02:46:05","slug":"lumsden-water-nitrate-contamination-above-preterm-birth-risk-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/lumsden-water-nitrate-contamination-above-preterm-birth-risk-level\/","title":{"rendered":"Lumsden water supply nitrate contamination above preterm birth risk level"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Greenpeace is warning pregnant people against drinking from the Lumsden water supply. This follows the organisation’s nitrate testing on Sunday which revealed that the town\u2019s water was testing at 6.14 mg\/L of nitrate (NO3<\/sub>-N) on average.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace freshwater campaigner Will Appelbe says, \u201cThis is a public health crisis. Pregnant people in Lumsden who are drinking this water are at an increased risk of preterm birth, and everyone who drinks from this water supply for a long period of time is at an increased risk of developing bowel cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace testing in 2023 revealed that the Lumsden town supply was over 4 mg\/L of nitrate. In the last three years, the town supply has increased by approximately 2 mg\/L, putting it above the 5 mg\/L threshold associated with an increased risk of preterm birth. It is also well above the 1 mg\/L threshold associated with an increased risk of bowel cancer.<\/p>\n\n

The New Zealand College of Midwives recommends<\/a> that pregnant people exposed to drinking water nitrate above 5 mg\/L \u2018consider accessing an alternative water source\u2019.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cRural communities like Lumsden deserve so much better. They shouldn\u2019t be having their water supply contaminated while rich dairy CEOs in Auckland get to drink safe, clean water,\u201d says Appelbe.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThey are effectively drinking poisoned water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThis is an outrage \u2013 we are talking about basic human rights being breached here. About 15% of New Zealanders could be exposed to nitrate contaminated water that is making them sick<\/a>. Many don\u2019t even know about it. The dairy industry has a lot to answer for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace is calling on district councils to make their nitrate test results publicly available.<\/p>\n\n

Appelbe says, \u201cGore and Selwyn District Council have already started publishing their nitrate level test results. It\u2019s not difficult. Other councils need to follow suit as soon as possible. It\u2019s just common sense.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

\u201cMore action is needed, and it should have started a long time ago. Monitoring nitrate levels and informing the public of risk is the bare minimum. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cBut ultimately, we need to stop nitrate from getting into the drinking water in the first place. That means reducing the size of the dairy herd, and phasing out the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, because urea and cow urine are the primary sources of nitrate contamination.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greenpeace is warning pregnant people against drinking from the Lumsden water supply, which has reached 6.14mg\/L of nitrate contamination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":77169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[19,22,23],"p4-page-type":[7],"class_list":["post-77168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greenpeace","tag-food-and-farming","tag-freshwater","tag-health","p4-page-type-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nLumsden water supply nitrate contamination above preterm 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