Study confirms nitrate can release uranium into groundwater

New research finds that nitrate … can help transport uranium to groundwater — when the nitrate levels exceed the regulatory threshold of 10 parts per million.

New research experimentally confirms that nitrate can help transport naturally occurring uranium from the underground to groundwater, according to a press release from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The new research backs a 2015 study led by Karrie Weber of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The 2015 showed that aquifers contaminated with high levels of nitrate — including the High Plains Aquifer residing beneath Nebraska — also contain uranium concentrations far exceeding a threshold set by the U.S. EPA.

Uranium concentrations above that EPA threshold have been shown to cause kidney damage in humans, especially when regularly consumed via drinking water.

“Most Nebraskans do rely on groundwater as drinking water,” said Weber, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences and Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. “In Lincoln, we rely on it. A lot of rural communities, they’re relying on groundwater.

Research had already established that dissolved inorganic carbon could chemically detach traces of natural, non-radioactive uranium from underground sediment, ultimately priming it for transport into groundwater. But the 2015 study, which found that certain areas of the High Plains Aquifer contained uranium levels up to 89 times the EPA threshold, had convinced Weber that nitrate was […]

Full article: Study confirms nitrate can release uranium into groundwater