Nearly one-fourth of all marine animals, including about 7,000 species of fish, depend upon coral reefs for some part of their life cycle. Learn More at AskFWC Get FWC News Feeds
Although nitrites are the nitrogen compound chiefly used in meat curing, nitrates are used in certain specialty curing processes where a long release of nitrite from parent nitrate stores is needed. The use of nitrates in food preservation is controversial.
Nitrogen-containing compounds act as nutrients in streams and rivers. Nitrate reactions [NO3-] in fresh water can cause oxygen depletion. Thus, aquatic organisms depending on the supply of oxygen in the stream will die.acteria in water quickly convert nitrites [NO2-] to nitrates [NO3-]. Nitrites can produce a serious condition in fish called brown blood disease.. Nitrites also react directly with hemoglobin in human blood and other warm-blooded animals to produce methemoglobin.