Reboiling water produces toxic nitrates?

Adrian Wong · Aug 10, 2010

Received this e-mail several times, purportedly of a Chinese newspaper report (Sin Chew). I have no idea if they actually printed it.

A pharmacist report from Singapore warns people NEVER to keep boiling your drinking water!

Report Summary: TOP harmful chemical named (Toxic Nitrate) is produced in water when you keep boiling it! This harmful substance had been proven to increase the chances of intestinal and stomach cancer.

IF you are currently using a 'WATER DISPENSER with WARM / HOT WATER Functions' or 'Electric AUTO Keep-Warm Thermos' for your convenience, STOP IT NOW, otherwise you would be killing yourself slowly as well as your loved ones!

NOWADAYS, there are so many drinking-water companies which OFFER FREE WATER DISPENSER when you order drinking water from them! THINK WISELY before you order!

YOU might get a FREE water dispenser but in fact you would be paying with your OWN HEALTH!

PLEASE SEND THIS MESSAGE TO YOUR LOVED ONES, FAMILY MEMBERS, FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES to remind them to keep away from water dispensers!
Click to expand...

This was my reply :

IMHO, this is a badly-researched article. Water is H2O. Boiling it will not change its chemical composition. Neither will reboiling it.

What the Sin Chew reporter failed to check before publishing the report was the basis behind the purported report. Did the report even exist? And what exactly did the report say? This kind of reporting is really irresponsible.

If the report really states that reboiling water creates nitrates, then it’s bullshit. If reboiling water can create nitrates, then we can create gold from the reheating of lead.

Pure water, H2O, does not contain nitrates, NO3. Nitrates contain oxygen atoms like water molecules, but there is no way to conjure up the nitrogen (N) atoms from the hydrogen (H) atoms in water!

The only way for a source of water to contain nitrates is for it to be CONTAMINATED. It’s like finding dissolved lead in drinking water. If the water is contaminated by nitrates or lead, then of course, the concentration of the contaminant increases as you continue to boil the water and cause more pure water to evaporate.

Pure water will contain neither nitrates nor lead. Pure water is H2O. Of course, tap water isn’t pure water. Tap water will contain some amount of minerals and dissolved gases. Maybe this quote from Wikipedia will be more informative :

Tap water may contain various types of natural but relatively harmless contaminants such as scaling agents like calcium carbonate in hard water and metal ions such as magnesium and iron, and odoriferous gases such as hydrogen sulfide. Local geological conditions affecting groundwater are determining factors of the presence of these substances in water.

Occasionally, there are health concerns regarding the leakage of dangerous biological or chemical contaminating agents into local water supplies when people are advised by public health officials not to drink the water, and stick to bottled water instead. An example is the recent discovery of potentially hazardous nitrates in the public water supply in Phoenix, Arizona
Click to expand...

Note the last paragraph. See the point about the contamination of water supply? If you do not live in an area with contaminated water supply or if you do not use lead pipes, you should not have to worry about nitrates or lead. Okay, maybe I’m not some big-shot scientist. But I think this statement should assuage all fears about reboiling water. Do note that unlike the Sin Chew report which quotes no sources, this one does.

Re-boiling clean uncontaminated drinking will water not cause cancer or any other health problems. However, boiling water contaminated with chemicals such as nitrates or toxic elements such as arsenic is a bad idea.

Ground water may contain nitrates, which are chemicals often found in fertilizer, and arsenic that may occur naturally or from farm or industrial waste. Nitrates, along with nitrites, are also found in processed meats.

Consuming water contaminated with nitrates can cause a blood disorder called methemoglobinemia and some research shows that nitrates in drinking water may be associated with some types of cancer. Exposure to arsenic may result in arsenic poisoning and increased risks of several types of cancer.

Nitrates and arsenic are not like bacteria, so boiling your water doesn't remove them. In fact, boiling water will actually increase the concentration. The more the water is boiled, the higher the concentration of these substances will be.
The levels of both nitrates and arsenic are regulated and water supplies must be monitored in towns and cities, so if your tap water comes from a city water source, it is safe. People who live in rural areas and have private wells must have their well water tested for nitrates and arsenic. If you have a private well and the levels of these contaminants are too high, you must install a water filtration system for your home.

Sources:
US Environmental Protection Agency. "" Consumer Factsheet on: Nitrates/Nitrites." National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. November 28th, 2006.
Centers for Disease Control. "Nitrate and Drinking Water from Private Wells." Drinking Water. Updated September 2003.
Yang CY, Cheng MF, Tsai SS, Hsieh YL. "Calcium, magnesium, and nitrate in drinking water and gastric cancer mortality." Jpn J Cancer Res. 1998 Feb;89(2):124-30.
Chiu HF, Tsai SS, Yang CY. "Nitrate in drinking water and risk of death from bladder cancer: an ecological case-control study in Taiwan." J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2007 Jun;70(12):1000-4.
De Roos AJ, Ward MH, Lynch CF, Cantor KP. "Nitrate in public water supplies and the risk of colon and rectum cancers." Epidemiology. 2003 Nov;14(6):640-9.
Centers for Disease Control. "Arsenic and Drinking Water from Private Wells." Drinking Water. Updated September 2003.
Ward MH, Cross AJ, Divan H, Kulldorff M, Nowell-Kadlubar S, Kadlubar FF, Sinha R. "Processed meat intake, CYP2A6 activity and risk of colorectal adenoma." Carcinogenesis. 2007 Jun;28(6):1210-6.
World Health Organization. "Arsenic in drinking water." Updated May 2001.
Click to expand...

Click to expand...

karhoe · Aug 10, 2010

Yet another myth debunked

Adrian Wong · Aug 12, 2010

One of my family friends pointed out that coffeeshop operators keep their water boiling all the time, so if there's any truth to this myth, millions of Malaysians would have died long ago.

Log in or Sign up

Reboiling water produces toxic nitrates?

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

karhoe Newbie

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

Reboiling water produces toxic nitrates?

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

karhoe Newbie

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches