{"id":1336,"date":"2007-11-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-11-21T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/master.k8s.p4.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/press\/1336\/drinking-water-in-philippines-thailand-contaminated-with-nitrates-greenpeace-says\/"},"modified":"2019-11-06T17:05:18","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T09:05:18","slug":"drinking-water-in-philippines-thailand-contaminated-with-nitrates-greenpeace-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/story\/1336\/drinking-water-in-philippines-thailand-contaminated-with-nitrates-greenpeace-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Drinking water in Philippines, Thailand contaminated with nitrates, Greenpeace says"},"content":{"rendered":"
Water in key agricultural areas in the Philippines and Thailand are already contaminated with nitrate pollution, Greenpeace warned today at the launch of a new report, Nitrates in drinking water in the Philippines and Thailand. The report, launched simultaneously in both countries, is the result of a Greenpeace Water Patrol investigation which studied nitrate levels in drinking water sources and their relation to nitrogen fertilizer use in farming areas.<\/div>\n
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Vegetable farms in Atok, Benguet were the crops are mostly carrots, potatoes, and cabbages.<\/p><\/div>\n

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A Greenpeace volunteer collects water samples from a well in Atok, Benguet.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Vegetable farms in Atok, Benguet were the crops are mostly carrots, potatoes, and cabbage.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Vegetable fields in Atok, Benguet.<\/p><\/div>\n

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This artesian well in Atok, Benguet is located in the middle of vegetable fields.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Rice fields in Angat, Bulacan.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Farmers spray chemicals on crops in Barangay Loo, Buguias, Benguet Province.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The study shows that drinking water from 30% of all groundwater
\nwells\u00a0\u00a0 sampled in both countries showed nitrates levels above the
\nWorld Heath\u00a0\u00a0 Organization safety limit of 50 mg l-1 of nitrate
\n(NO3-). This nitrate\u00a0\u00a0 pollution was highest in the most intensive
\ncrops, with nitrate levels 3\u00a0\u00a0 times the WHO safety limit (>150
\nmg l-1) in asparagus farms in\u00a0\u00a0 Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Groundwater
\nwells in vegetable farming areas in\u00a0\u00a0 Benguet, Philippines were
\nalso polluted with nitrates levels above WHO\u00a0\u00a0 limits.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreenpeace has been sending out warning signals that the
\nquality of\u00a0\u00a0 freshwater sources in both the Philippines and
\nThailand is declining,\u00a0\u00a0 and this study is yet another shocking
\nexample of how water protection\u00a0\u00a0 measures are inadequate. The
\nnitrates pollution that we discovered in\u00a0\u00a0 farming areas is
\nparticularly worrisome\u2013communities think that the\u00a0\u00a0 water they
\ndrink everyday is clean because physically, it doesn\u2019t smell\u00a0\u00a0 bad
\nor look bad. But it is actually laced with nitrates from
\nfertilizers\u00a0\u00a0 which people don\u2019t normally associate with
\npollution,\u201d said Greenpeace\u00a0\u00a0 Campaigner Daniel Ocampo.<\/p>\n

In the Philippines, the Greenpeace Water Patrol
\ninvestigation looked at\u00a0\u00a0 crops and farming practices in key
\nagricultural areas, Benguet and\u00a0\u00a0 Bulacan provinces, surveying and
\ntesting nitrate levels in water from\u00a0\u00a0 wells and streams around
\nfarms, and interviewing farmers and townsfolk.\u00a0\u00a0 Five out of the 18
\nartesian wells in Benguet and Bulacan contained\u00a0\u00a0 nitrates levels
\nwell above the WHO drinking water safety limit. The\u00a0\u00a0 highest
\nlevels were found in groundwater in Buguias, Benguet at 50
\npercent above the WHO safety limit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cClean and safe drinking water is a basic human need. We believe
\nthat it is possible to produce food without compromising the
\nintegrity of our water systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beau Baconguis<\/p>\n

Greenpeace Southeast Asia Toxics Campaigner<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Examples of water pollution with nitrates were found in
\nintensive\u00a0\u00a0 farming areas in Thailand\u2019s Central Plain (Kanchanaburi
\nand Suphanburi).\u00a0\u00a0 Samples taken from Kanchanaburi show a clear
\nexample of heavy fertilizer\u00a0\u00a0 use related to water pollution with
\nnitrates in asparagus farms. In six\u00a0\u00a0 out of 11 asparagus farms
\nsurveyed, nitrates levels in groundwater wells\u00a0\u00a0 were above the WHO
\ndrinking water safety limit, and even in the other\u00a0\u00a0 five wells
\nnitrate levels showed evidence of pollution. In Suphanburi,\u00a0\u00a0 two
\nof the five wells in farms sampled had nitrates levels higher
\nthan\u00a0\u00a0 the WHO safety limit<\/p>\n

According to Reyes Tirado of Greenpeace Research Laboratories in
\nthe\u00a0\u00a0 University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, and author of the
\nreport,\u00a0\u00a0 the results of the study indicate that the nitrates
\npollution in\u00a0\u00a0 drinking water sources sampled in the study
\ncorrelates with intensive\u00a0\u00a0 farming practices where nitrogen
\nfertilizers are applied in excess.\u00a0\u00a0 Nitrates pollution could have
\nserious health implications for the local\u00a0\u00a0 populations.
\nGroundwater is the main source of drinking water in the\u00a0\u00a0 selected
\nsampling sites.<\/p>\n

Drinking water with high levels of nitrate can cause serious
\nhealth\u00a0\u00a0 problems, especially in children. The greatest risk of
\nnitrate poisoning\u00a0\u00a0 is \u2018blue baby syndrome\u2019 or methemoglobinemia,
\nwhich occurs in infants\u00a0\u00a0 given nitrate-laden water, and
\nparticularly affects babies under four\u00a0\u00a0 months of age. Blue-baby
\nsyndrome can provoke cyanosis, headache,\u00a0\u00a0 stupor, fatigue,
\ntachycardia, coma, convulsions, asphyxia and ultimately\u00a0\u00a0 death.
\nDrinking water contaminated with nitrates also has a potential
\nrole in developing cancers of the digestive tract, and has also
\nbeen\u00a0\u00a0 associated with other types of cancer such as non-Hodgkin\u2019s
\nlymphoma,\u00a0\u00a0 bladder and ovarian cancers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis case shows that drinking water sources are threatened not
\njust by\u00a0\u00a0 pollution from industrial sources like factories, but
\nalso by chemical\u00a0\u00a0 intensive agricultural practices. Unless the
\ngovernment implements\u00a0\u00a0 policies to ensure the proper use and
\napplication of fertilizers in\u00a0\u00a0 agriculture, we will lose more of
\nour valuable water resources.\u00a0\u00a0 Government agencies must implement
\nstronger measures to protect our\u00a0\u00a0 groundwater from pollution from
\nagricultural chemicals. Nitrate\u00a0\u00a0 pollution must consistently be
\nmonitored and prevented, and the\u00a0\u00a0 dangerous practice of over-using
\nfertilizers in intensive agriculture is\u00a0\u00a0 a serious threat that
\nmust be stopped; instead fertilizer subsidies must\u00a0\u00a0 be phased out
\nand fertilizer reduction policies implemented,\u201d said\u00a0\u00a0 Natwipha
\nEwasakul, Greenpeace Campaigner based in Thailand.<\/p>\n

As part of its regional water project launched last September,
\nGreenpeace has been highlighting freshwater sources in Thailand and
\nthe\u00a0\u00a0 Philippines that are being threatened by pollution.<\/p>\n

\u201cClean and safe drinking water is a basic human need. We believe
\nthat it\u00a0\u00a0 is possible to produce food without compromising the
\nintegrity of our\u00a0\u00a0 water systems. To protect our dwindling
\nfreshwater resources,\u00a0\u00a0 agriculture\u2013just like industries\u2013must
\nfocus on pollution prevention.\u00a0\u00a0 Government must adapt a thorough
\napproach at water pollution prevention\u00a0\u00a0 and look at policies that
\nwill eliminate harmful chemicals from source,\u00a0\u00a0 that is, the
\nproduction process itself,\u201d said Greenpeace Southeast Asia\u00a0\u00a0 Toxics
\nCampaigner Beau Baconguis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Get involved!<\/h3>\n

Sign up for the free Greenpeace online activist e-zine.<\/a><\/p>\n

Support us!<\/h3>\n

We don\u2019t accept money from governments or corporations \u2014 and our financial independence is what allows us to pressure both. We rely on over 2 million people worldwide who give whatever they can. Please join us.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n\tWater in key agricultural areas in the Philippines and Thailand are already contaminated with nitrate pollution, Greenpeace warned today at the launch of a new report, Nitrates in drinking water in the Philippines and Thailand. The report, launched simultaneously in both countries, is the result of a Greenpeace Water Patrol investigation which studied nitrate levels in drinking water sources and their relation to nitrogen fertilizer use in farming areas.\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":1337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"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":[2],"tags":[17,23],"p4-page-type":[16],"class_list":["post-1336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sustainability","tag-pollution","tag-food","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1336"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1984,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions\/1984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1336"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=1336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}