KERN COUNTY - Contaminated drinking water is a threat to the Central Valley and Kern County. Now, even more so as a new study links Nitrate contamination to several birth defects.
Water is a basic human need, but if you're pregnant this new study shows drinking water with high levels of Nitrates could harm you and your unborn child.
"I cannot recall any times where a doctor told them don't drink the tap water."
But, a study out of Texas A&M suggests pregnant women shouldn't drink tap water. The study showed pregnant women in Texas and Iowa who drank tap water with more than five milligrams of Nitrates daily, were twice as likely to give birth to a child with Spina Bifida, cleft palate or missing limbs.
Valerie Gorospe with The Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment says polluted drinking water is a growing problem in Delano. When folks can't afford bottled water, they rely on the tap.
"There were millions of dollars recently that the state found that have not been used by decision makers and where does the accountability come in?" Gorospe said.
After $445 million of federal drinking water funding went unspent for months, the state now has plans to improve water systems in rural areas where Nitrates can seep into water.
"Nitrates can be naturally occurring. It can be in the soil, the water. It can even be in some plants and in some fruits and vegetables that we eat."
Donna Fenton with Environmental Health Services says of all 348 water wells drilled in Kern County in 2011, the department says nine exceeded the maximum contaminant level for Nitrates. In 2012, of all 287 water wells drilled, the department says six exceeded the levels for Nitrates. This is the first time Fenton says she's heard of a study linking Nitrates to birth defects.
"They'll have to look into the study a little bit further to see if there are other studies that need to come as a result to this," Fenton said.
Fenton encourages consumers who are concerned about Nitrate levels to ask their water companies to provide them with the latest testing report.
Water is a basic human need, but if you're pregnant this new study shows drinking water with high levels of Nitrates could harm you and your unborn child.
"I cannot recall any times where a doctor told them don't drink the tap water."
But, a study out of Texas A&M suggests pregnant women shouldn't drink tap water. The study showed pregnant women in Texas and Iowa who drank tap water with more than five milligrams of Nitrates daily, were twice as likely to give birth to a child with Spina Bifida, cleft palate or missing limbs.
Valerie Gorospe with The Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment says polluted drinking water is a growing problem in Delano. When folks can't afford bottled water, they rely on the tap.
"There were millions of dollars recently that the state found that have not been used by decision makers and where does the accountability come in?" Gorospe said.
After $445 million of federal drinking water funding went unspent for months, the state now has plans to improve water systems in rural areas where Nitrates can seep into water.
"Nitrates can be naturally occurring. It can be in the soil, the water. It can even be in some plants and in some fruits and vegetables that we eat."
Donna Fenton with Environmental Health Services says of all 348 water wells drilled in Kern County in 2011, the department says nine exceeded the maximum contaminant level for Nitrates. In 2012, of all 287 water wells drilled, the department says six exceeded the levels for Nitrates. This is the first time Fenton says she's heard of a study linking Nitrates to birth defects.
"They'll have to look into the study a little bit further to see if there are other studies that need to come as a result to this," Fenton said.
Fenton encourages consumers who are concerned about Nitrate levels to ask their water companies to provide them with the latest testing report.