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Perchlorate -- Let's Get Serious
Sun!
Finally!
The kid and husband were at a cycling race, so Saber the Wonder Dog and I drove out to the Shenandoah Valley and hit the trail that runs along the waterfalls. Last week's rains were crashing down the rocks, and the spray smelled fresh and cool.
But nobody was drinking out of those seemingly pristine pools. I'd lugged a bottle of water from home, and so had the Boy Scouts, the exchange students, the families and toddlers, the dog walkers and the trout fishermen.
Just because it occurs naturally, doesn't mean it's safe
Nothing in the water that wasn't natural. But we all knew that included bear scat, deer scat, fox scat, raccoon scat, dead crawfish and eau de possum. (Saber the W.D.'s fave.) And of course, those unforgettable little giardia bombs.
Which got me to thinking about some of the reactions to our perchlorate report, published last week. Our report highlighted a recent study by scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who had found perchlorate, a component of solid rocket fuel and a thyroid toxin, in all 15 brands of powdered infant formula tested. The most popular types of formula, made with cow's milk, were also the most contaminated, according to the study.
After we published our analysis of the CDC study, a number of people posted dismissive comments arguing that perchlorate occurs in nature and suggesting that concerns about it were exaggerated.
True enough, there's a baseline level of perchlorate in the earth - as the CDC scientists duly noted. But there's a heck of a lot more perchlorate in the water and soil around old rocket launch sites and chemical-making and storage locations. The CDC report pointed out, for instance, that much contamination found in certain California wells came from the Colorado River and originated at a former perchlorate manufacturing facility in Nevada.
The Colorado, by the way, is a source of drinking water for something like 25 million people and irrigation water for vast farm acreage.
Anyhow, however an impurity gets into source water, we don't drink source water, and we sure don't let our kids drink it. We routinely treat our municipal water, and some of us filter our tap water to take out perchlorate, along with other nasties like lead and arsenic.
Which, of course, occur in nature. And are not to be trifled with.
Lead occurs naturally, too
(According to the Environmental Protection Agency Journal, the Romans -- early globalists -- knew that lead mining and smelting were poisonous and banished these noxious activities to the provinces, to be carried out by slaves and other expendables. But they found lead plates and goblets too convenient to give up, so they ignored the subtle symptoms of trace lead toxicity, among them intelligence deficits, mental illness and reproductive problems.)
What have we learned?
Haven't we learned a thing or two over the last couple of millenia? Lead's neurotoxicity is well established. There is still much to study about the effects of trace perchlorate. But scientists have established that it can impair production of thyroid hormones, which are essential for brain development in early life and for good health in later life.
We know enough, in other words, not to gamble on our kids' health.
The solution to perchlorate pollution is federal regulation and a serious clean-up financed by the defense and aerospace industries that spilled the stuff in the first place. What we don't need to do is delude ourselves.
I wade in those sparkling pools. So do my kid and my husband, when not cycling or ice-climbing. And of course, Saber the W.D. noses in.
But natural or not, we don't drink the water.
Thanks for a great article. Do you have any recommendations on what to filter your water with? We currently use Brita and Pur filters on the faucet and in a pitcher in the fridge. I've recently been reading about Multi-Pure filters and thinking of switching to one of those, they seem to filter more out. Any thoughts on this? Thanks!
Dear Christy,
I'm a journalist (and a mom), so I rely on the scientists here for authoritative answers. Senior scientist Anila Jacob, our perchlorate expert (and an internist), recommends a reverse osmosis system that specifically addresses perchlorate. She says carbon filters like Brita don't filter out perchlorate.
Before I did anything, I'd find out whether perchlorate pollution is a problem in my community. Contamination levels vary widely. Check EWG's tap water atlas at http://www.ewg.org/tapwater/contaminants/ This gives general info on contaminants in my state and a link to many water utilities. Perchlorate isn't regulated yet, so not all utilities list the perchlorate level they find as they conduct required periodic testing. If you dont' see perchlorate listed, CALL YOUR UTILITY. You'll get the info, possibly, and you'll also put your water company on notice that you and others in your community care about this issue.
A lot of people must have called my Maryland utility, because its website had a long discussion of perchlorate, and it made public its findings : 0.55 micrograms per liter (another way of saying 0.55 parts per billion (ppb).) Scientists are concerned about anything over 1 ppb, so my water's perchlorate reading was reassuring. I went with a R/O system anyway because we have other troublesome impurities (read about the spike in lead levels in DC water a few years back?) and LOTS of chlorine. Multi-Pure's website say it sells a R/O system, but I'd talk to the sales staff specifically about perchlorate and other pollution problems in your area. I bought a Culligan system, andI like it, but I am sure there are several companies that produce quality products. Best, Elaine
It's very important that the public understand that perchlorate does not just affect the thyroid, it affects the cd34 stem cells that form thyroid and connective tissue. See York et al 2005 pubmed id 16393938 and Jendelova et al 2005 pubmed id 15929552.
http://www.perchlorate.org
Larry, this is important information. Thanks so much for writing in. Perchlorate needs a great deal of study, and also careful attention by the regulatory agencies.
Thanks much,
Elaine Shannon
Editor-in-chief
EWG