Stomach cancer and nitrate levels in drinking water in the Bursa region

Abstract

For many years drinking water in the Bursa region has had high contents of nitrate. We investigated the relation between this quality of water and gastrointestinal (GIS) cancer, especially gastric cancer. Nitrate levels in water samples from several settlements in the Bursa region were measured. The incidences of gastrointestinal cancers in the same regions over the last 10 years were also recorded and cancer and nitrate data compared. The level of nitrate was 3.5 times greater in underground water than in surface water. Surface and underground water were compared in terms of cancer risk. No significant correlations were found between the incidence of cancer and the nitrate levels in drinking water.