Perchlorate Found in Drinking Water from Chemtrails?

CONSUMER WATCH Limit rocket-fuel component in water: lawmakers By Ruth Mantell, MarketWatch Last update: 7:32 p.m. EST Jan. 29, 2008

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Consumers need a national standard to limit a rocket-fuel component in their drinking water, lawmakers say, citing a recent government study showing that perchlorate is found in a wide range of foods.

Fetuses, newborns and pregnant women are at particular risk from perchlorate, which can harm normal brain development, according to experts. A study from the Food and Drug Administration published this month found detectable perchlorate in 59% of the total food samples analyzed and that 2-year-olds had the highest perchlorate intake per kilogram of body weight per day. "Without a national drinking-water standard, young children and other vulnerable persons will be exposed to this contaminant, posing unnecessary risks to their health," said Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., author of legislation that would amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Environmental Protection Agency to create a standard for perchlorate. Solis' bill has been approved by a subcommittee and is pending in the full Energy and Commerce Committee.

Perchlorate has been found in the groundwater, surface water, drinking water or soil in at least 35 states and the District of Columbia, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. Most U.S.-made perchlorate, which is also used in items such as fireworks and road flares, is for use by the military and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, according to the GAO.

Perchlorate has been detected in hundreds of public water systems, serving millions of people throughout the nation, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. More testing is needed, Dr. Gina Solomon, a senior scientist with NRDC, testified to senators last year.

"We have seen only the tip of the iceberg for this contaminant," she testified. Perchlorate is both manmade and naturally occurring, and may have contaminated food through the use of some fertilizers as well as water sources.

EPA is reviewing the FDA report and plans to make a final determination by the end of the year about whether to regulate perchlorate under the act, according to Benjamin Grumbles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Water. Rep. Al Wynn, D-Md., chairman of the House Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, criticized the EPA for failing to set a standard. "There is abundant evidence of high levels of perchlorate in our nation's drinking water and health studies have documented that the most vulnerable members of our population, children and infants, have been exposed to unsafe levels of this thyroid toxin," Wynn said. "Now, most recently, the FDA has uncovered potential perchlorate exposure through our food supply. Faced with these facts, the EPA's delay is unacceptable. The time has come for a national standard limiting the amount of perchlorate in our drinking water."

Details According to the FDA study, dairy contributed 51% of the total estimated daily intake of perchlorate for 2-year-olds. For 6-year-olds dairy contributed 50% of perchlorate intake and for 10-year-olds it contributed 47%. For infants between 6 and 11 months, 81% of perchlorate intake was from baby and dairy foods. For teenagers and adults, vegetables and dairy foods combined accounted for 46% to 59% of total estimated perchlorate intake.

"It could be assumed that perchlorate would be found mainly in foods with high moisture content (e.g., milk and vegetables) because of its affinity for water, but results of the...analyses appear to indicate that perchlorate is more widely distributed in the food supply," according to the FDA report.

In separate analyses, FDA has found perchlorate at low levels in items such as: tomatoes, carrots, spinach, cantaloupe, apple juice, orange juice, cucumbers, green beans, fish and shrimp, according to GAO. Perchlorate can be concentrated in crops such as wheat, lettuce and alfalfa, NRDC's Solomon testified last year.

"Perchlorate is highly mobile in water and can persist for decades under typical ground- and surface-water conditions," Solomon testified.

The EPA's perchlorate reference dose -- the level of daily exposure that is not expected to cause adverse health effects in humans -- is 0.7 micrograms per kilogram of body weight. A microgram is one-millionth of a gram.

Among tested age groups, two-year-olds had the highest estimated average perchlorate intake ranging from 50% to 56% of the EPA's reference dose. For infants between 6 and 11months old, intake ranged from 37% to 41% of EPA's reference dose. For 6-year-olds, intake ranged from 36% to 40% of EPA's reference dose, while 10-year-olds' intake ranged from 24% to 29% of the reference dose. Older groups had lower estimated intakes, ranging from about 11% to 20% of the reference dose.

According to GAO, most sites of perchlorate contamination have been found in California and Texas, while sites in Arkansas, California, Nevada, Texas and Utah have had some of the highest concentration levels.

"Of particular concern are military facilities closed under DOD's Base Realignment and Closure program that are intended to be redeveloped for productive new uses and must generally be cleaned up before conversion," according to GAO. "Environmental cleanup is necessary for the transfer of unneeded contaminated property, which becomes available as a result of base closures and realignment."

Ruth Mantell is a MarketWatch reporter based in Washington.

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