Different forms of mineral nitrogen in drinking water and the Balkan nephropathy

Ten study wells used by Balkan nephropathy (BN) sufferers and 10 control wells used by unaffected inhabitants, were sampled in the village of Donji Dobric where BN was endemic. Average concentrations of ammonium nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen did not differ significantly between the 2 groups of wells. Ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen concentrations were generally within the upper permissible limits (0.5 and 15 mg per litre, respectively), but 9 study wells and 6 control wells had very high levels of nitrite nitrogen (up to 2.38 and 1.82 mg per litre in study and control wells, respectively, compared with the upper permissible limit of 0.005 mg per litre). Despite the lack of statistical significance, these findings did not rule out the possible involvement of drinking water nitrite in the aetiology of BN.