Using vegetable water to make milk can cause poisoning in infants. Beware of nitrite poisoning

On September 29, the neonatal department of Chengdu Women and Children's Central Hospital admitted two newborns with severe nitrite poisoning within a month. Both cases were caused by the families who thought that milk powder would "cause internal heat" and used boiled vegetable water to make milk for their babies.

Cook it for one meal and drink it for one day, but little did they know that the nitrate substances in it were reduced to highly toxic nitrites under the action of microorganisms! When the two children were admitted to the hospital, their skin turned purple and their methemoglobin reached the lethal range. After treatment, the children were out of danger and gradually recovered.

Poisoning incident story

"He was fine in the morning, then he was fed once, and then he became cyanotic in the afternoon, and then he came to our clinic." Gao Shuqiang, deputy director and chief physician of the neonatal department of Chengdu Women and Children's Central Hospital, told Red Star News. Cyanosis refers to the increase of deoxyhemoglobin in the blood, which makes the skin and mucous membranes turn bluish purple. Usually, doctors will initially consider respiratory or heart problems.

After further questioning the baby's parents, the medical staff learned that Beibei was fed with mixed breast milk and formula from September 25 to 27. When feeding formula, the parents mistakenly believed that formula would "cause internal heat" and vegetable soup could "clear internal heat", so they used boiled vegetable water to mix the formula for Beibei to drink.

It is reported that the child was purple when he was admitted to the hospital, and his methemoglobin level reached the lethal range. One of the premature babies was found to be abnormal during routine follow-up, and the newborn has improved after timely rescue.

Although the patient was discovered and rescued in time, severe tissue hypoxia could have caused organ damage including brain damage, not to mention that nitrite is a Class A carcinogen.

Doctor's friendly reminder: Parents must feed their newborns scientifically under the guidance of a professional doctor. Do not listen to so-called folk remedies at will. If there are any problems, go to the hospital for medical treatment in time.

Why are there nitrates in vegetables?

In nature, nitrates are actually everywhere, in the air, soil, water, etc. Nitrates in vegetables can also come from absorption in the atmospheric environment, the action of plant nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and water sources for agricultural irrigation. When plants absorb nitrogen-containing substances such as nitrates and ammonium salts, they can use nitrogen to synthesize amino acids and form proteins.

In other words, the source of nitrogen is very important for plant growth. If there is a lack of nitrogen, the growth and development of plants will be severely restricted, which is also the purpose of farmers' fertilization. Of course, in this process, the excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers on crops also causes excessive accumulation of nitrates in vegetables.

The nitrate content in vegetables is also affected by vegetable type, light, temperature and other climatic conditions. For example, vegetables with sufficient light have lower nitrate content than those with insufficient light. Leafy vegetables have higher nitrate content than roots or melons.

Experts: Baby's intestines are more likely to absorb nitrite

According to relevant experts, about 80% of the nitrate in the normal human body is absorbed through vegetables. Compared with adults and children, the intestinal wall of newborns is immature and relatively thin, so newborns absorb more nitrite by drinking vegetable soup.

Adults and children have mature gastrointestinal functions, more gastric acid secretion, and mature intestinal mucosal barriers, so the amount of nitrite absorbed through the intestines is even less. Nitrates are reduced to highly toxic nitrites by the action of microorganisms. Microorganisms exist in the human mouth, digestive tract, and other places, and there are also many in the air. If vegetables are left for a long time and go bad, adults will feel uncomfortable after eating them.

Therefore, we can only say that the probability of nitrite poisoning after drinking vegetable soup is extremely low for adults and children. But for newborns, the probability is extremely high. Here we remind the majority of newborn parents to pay attention to reasonable milk preparation and scientific feeding in the process of parenting.

Netizens' reactions to this

Many mothers saw this news. Some had done this before, while others had never heard of it. Let’s see how netizens reacted.