Nitrate

What are Nitrates and What is Blue Baby Syndrome?

 

When we first hear of nitrates and carrots, “Blue Baby Syndrome” and homemade baby food, it is often with a bit of fear and trepidation that we proceed to make baby’s food. We wish to do the best for our babies and we certainly do not want to poison them! Let’s take a moment to look at the facts about nitrates, infants and making baby food.

 

Nitrates are naturally occurring nitrogen/oxygen salt compounds found in almost every vegetable that we eat and the soils they are grown in. Nitrates are also laboratory formulated and used in fertilizers. Nitrates are ingested either from vegetables or drinking water. Nitrates/nitrites have been found to be responsible for "Blue Baby Syndrome." Adults are not affected by nitrates or nitrites because their stomachs produce acids that fight the bacteria that help convert nitrates into nitrites. This conversion, and the resulting nitrite, is what allows for nitrate poisoning or “Blue Baby Syndrome.”

 

The name “Blue Baby Syndrome” stems from the fact that nitrites hinder proper oxygen transportation in the red blood cells. “Once in the blood, nitrite oxidizes iron in the hemoglobin of red blood cells to form methemoglobin, which lacks hemoglobin's oxygen-carrying ability.”1 Without proper oxygen saturation in the blood, the body’s cells become oxygen deprived and the skin takes on a blue or purple hue. This oxygen deprivation may lead to the slow asphyxiation of the person poisoned.

 

What are the Symptoms of Blue Baby Syndrome?

"The most obvious symptom of nitrate poisoning is a bluish color of the skin, particularly around the eyes and mouth. This is called cyanosis. A baby with these symptoms should be taken to an emergency medical facility immediately. The doctor will take a blood sample to be sure the baby is suffering from nitrate poisoning. The blood sample of an affected baby is a chocolate brown instead of a healthy red. Nitrate poisoning can be treated, and in most cases the baby makes a full recovery. http://ohioline.osu.edu/b744/b744_2.html

What are the odds that my baby will get Blue Baby Syndrome?

 

It is important to note that the odds of your baby getting "Blue Baby Syndrome"  nitrate poisoning from Carrots or other veggies is about 0%.   By the time you introduce solid foods to your baby, his tummy should be developed enough to handle "normal" nitrate exposure.

 

"Around the age of three months, an increase in the amount of hydrochloric acid in a baby's stomach kills most of the bacteria that convert nitrate to nitrite. By the time a baby is six months old, its digestive system is fully developed, and none of the nitrate-converting bacteria remain. In older children and adults, nitrate is absorbed and excreted, and Methemoglobinemia is no longer a concern." http://ohioline.osu.edu/b744/b744_2.html

 

Yes, while nitrates are an important issue, they are highly unlikely to poison your baby from the carrots that you make!  Many pediatricians will tell you to not make homemade carrots while many other pediatricians will shrug off Nitrates and tell you there is no issue and no risk. 

 

Nitrate poisoning is very very rare and when it does occur, it is typically traced back to ground water contamination – specifically from contaminated private wells.2