Nitrate in public water supplies and risk of bladder cancer

Mary H Ward; Kenneth P Cantor; David Riley; Shannon Merkle; Charles F Lynch

doi:10.1097/00001648-200303000-00012

Back

Nitrate in public water supplies and risk of bladder cancer

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Nitrate in public water supplies and risk of bladder cancer

Mary H Ward, Kenneth P Cantor, David Riley, Shannon Merkle and Charles F Lynch

Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.), Vol.14(2), pp.183-190

03/2003

DOI: 10.1097/00001648-200303000-00012

PMID: 12606884

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.1097/00001648-200303000-00012View

Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Nitrate is a precursor compound in the formation of N-nitroso compounds, most of which are potent animal carcinogens. N-nitroso compounds and their precursors have not been extensively evaluated as bladder cancer risk factors. We conducted a population-based case-control study of bladder cancer in Iowa. Cases were men and women newly diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1986-1989. Nitrate data for Iowa public water supplies were sparse before the 1960s. To reduce misclassification by unknown nitrate levels, we included only those who used public supplies with nitrate data for 70% or more of their person-years since 1960 (808 cases, 1259 controls). Among controls, the median average nitrate level for their Iowa residences with public water supplies was 1.3 mg/liter nitrate-nitrogen (interquartile range = 0.6-3.0). After adjustment for confounders, we found no increased risk of bladder cancer with increasing average nitrate levels in drinking water; the highest quartile odds ratio for women was 0.8 (95% confidence interval = 0.4-0.8), and for men 0.5 (0.4-0.8). We observed no association among those with high water nitrate exposure (>median) and low (<median) vitamin C intake compared with those who had low water nitrate and high vitamin C intake. Our data suggest that long-term exposure to nitrate in drinking water at levels in this study (90th percentile 5.5 mg/liter nitrate-nitrogen) is not associated with risk of bladder cancer.

Water Supply

Humans

Middle Aged

Risk Factors

Logistic Models

Male

Nitrates - adverse effects

Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis

Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - chemically induced

Case-Control Studies

Environmental Exposure - adverse effects

Water Pollutants, Chemical - adverse effects

Confounding Factors (Epidemiology)

Aged, 80 and over

Adult

Female

Interviews as Topic

Iowa - epidemiology

Surveys and Questionnaires

Aged

Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - epidemiology

Nitrates - analysis

Details

Title: Subtitle: Nitrate in public water supplies and risk of bladder cancer
Creators: Mary H Ward - Occupational Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20892-7240, USA. wardm@mail.nih.gov
Kenneth P Cantor
David Riley
Shannon Merkle
Charles F Lynch
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.), Vol.14(2), pp.183-190
DOI: 10.1097/00001648-200303000-00012
PMID: 12606884
NLM abbreviation: Epidemiology
ISSN: 1044-3983
eISSN: 1531-5487
Publisher: United States
Language: English
Date published: 03/2003
Academic Unit: Epidemiology
Record Identifier: 9983995121202771

Metrics

33 Record Views

70 Times Cited - Web of Science