Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40514542›Full record

ArticleNature food2025

Changes in meat consumption can improve groundwater quality.

Yang Zhan, Zhilin Guo, Joel Podgorski, Zhengzhong Zeng, Peng Xu, Liqing Peng, Kewei Chen, Rixin Wu, Chen Ding, Charles Andrews and 2 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature food, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Yang ZhanState Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Contamination Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
Zhilin GuoState Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Contamination Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China. guozl@sustech.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3731-8739
Joel PodgorskiDepartment Water Resources and Drinking Water, Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2522-1021
Zhengzhong ZengState Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Contamination Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6851-2756
Peng XuInstitute of Surface-Earth System Science, School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6964-1274
Liqing PengWorld Resources Institute, Washington, DC, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0329-2200
Kewei ChenState Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Contamination Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
Rixin WuState Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Contamination Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
Chen DingState Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Contamination Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
Charles AndrewsState Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Contamination Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
Vladan BabovicDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4046-6473
Chunmiao ZhengState Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Contamination Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5839-1305

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 42377045
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Large-scale, centralized livestock production is recognized as a significant contributor to environmental pollution, including groundwater contamination. Here we assess the impact of traditional meat production on nitrate contamination in groundwater across the contiguous USA from 1985 to 2020. In addition, we evaluate potential changes in groundwater quality resulting from the substitution of traditional meat sources with three alternative meat options. We find that substituting 10% of the protein intake from conventional meat sources with meat alternatives can lead to an average reduction of 3.4%, 10.7% and 4.5% in the required nitrogen fertilizer, manure and water footprint, respectively. This substitution could potentially decrease the risk of groundwater nitrate exceedance (concentration exceeding 10 mg l

Indexed as

GroundwaterMeatWater Pollutants, ChemicalWater QualityAnimalsFertilizersHumansLivestockManureNitratesUnited StatesFertilizersManureNitratesWater Pollutants, Chemical

Identifiers

PMID40514542

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.