Blue Babies
We’re seeing a bit of a trend here: though nitrogen is necessary and natural (in most cases), too much of it tends to mean that there’s not enough oxygen.
When this kind of thing happens in babies, the purplish or bluish color that results is caused “blue baby syndrome” (or, if you’re the technical type, “cyanosis”). Whatever you call it, it means that the level of oxygen in the blood is getting too low.
You really can’t mistake it; the baby is blue at the extremities (called “peripheral cyanosis”, most marked around the fingernails), and the core (called “central cyanosis”, most obvious around the lips). Nor is it exclusive to babies, though newborns suffer from cyanosis to a much greater degree than the general population.
Cyanosis can result from heart defects or heart disease, as well as methemoglobinaemia (a hemoglobin disorder), and respiratory distress syndrome. The most-common cause is the grandly-named “Tetrology of Fallot”, a collection of heart defects that tend to occur together (just ask Shaun White, the Olympian and snowboarder known at US casinos everywhere). This is nothing to make light of.
It’s never a fun condition. At the very least, poor circulation of oxygen in the blood can cause any number of problems…and at worst, heart or lung failure can occur. While medical science has evolved to fix a number of these once-crippling or fatal problems, even completely successful treatments leave patients at a much higher risk for later complications — and all signs seem to indicate that the numbers of “blue babies” are increasing all the time.
The most likely cause of blue babies is a high nitrogen level in the water, typically leached from sources such as agricultural runoff or waste facilities (dumps, landfills, etc.). In nearby areas, water from wells provide the highest risk, especially if the wells are shallow or poorly-constructed. However, any runoff system will make the nitrates available — especially after the first rain of the season, or after major storms.