Why are Nitrates and Nitrites indicators of sustainability?

Why are Nitrates and Nitrites indicators of sustainability?

Nitrate and nitrite are compounds that contain a nitrogen atom joined to oxygen atoms, with nitrate containing three oxygen atoms and nitrite containing two. In nature, nitrates are readily converted to nitrites and vice versa. Both are anions, or ions with a negative charge. They tend to associate with cations, or ions with a positive charge, to achieve a neutral charge balance.Nitrates are naturally present in soil, water, and food. In the natural nitrogen cycle, bacteria convert nitrogen to nitrate, which is taken up by plants and incorporated into tissues. Animals that eat plants use the nitrate to produce proteins. Nitrate is returned to the environment in animal feces, as well as through microbial degradation of plants and animals after they die. Microorganisms can convert nitrate or the ammonium ion (which is a nitrogen atom combined with four hydrogen atoms) to nitrite; this reaction occurs in the environment as well as within the digestive tract of humans and other animals. After bacteria
convert (reduce) nitrate to nitrite in the environment, the nitrogen cycle is completed when they then convert the nitrite to nitrogen. Normally, this natural cycling process does not allow excessive amounts of nitrates or nitrites to accumulate in the environment. However, human activities have increased environmental nitrate concentrations, with agriculture being the major source. This includes increased use of nitrogen-containing fertilizers as well as concentrated livestock and poultry farming; the latter two produce millions of tons of nitrate-containing manure each year. Nitrate and nitrite compounds are very soluble in water and quite mobile in the environment. They have a high potential for entering surface water when it rains, as nitrates in applied fertilizers can dissolve in runoff that flows into streams or lakes; they also have a high potential for entering groundwater through leaching. The concentration associated with soil particles has been estimated to be about half the concentration in interstitial water (the water in the pore spaces between the soil particles).

What are some health effects of Nitrates and Nitrite?

Nitrates themselves are relatively nontoxic. However, when swallowed, they are converted to nitrites that can react with hemoglobin in the blood, oxidizing its divalent iron to the trivalent form and creating methemoglobin. This methemoglobin cannot bind oxygen, which decreases the capacity of the blood to transport oxygen so less oxygen is transported from the lungs to the body tissues, thus causing a condition known as methemoglobinemia. Normal individuals have low levels (0.5 to 2%) of methemoglobin in their blood. When this level increases to 10%, the skin and lips can take on a bluish tinge (cyanosis), and levels above 25% can cause weakness and a rapid pulse. At levels above 50 to 60%, a person can lose consciousness, go into a coma, and die. Infants are much more sensitive than adults to nitrates/nitrites, and essentially all deaths from nitrate/nitrite poisoning have been in infants. Long-term exposure to lower levels of nitrates and nitrites can cause diuresis (an increase in the amount of urine, and starchy deposits and hemorrhaging of the spleen).