Toddlers Are Getting Rocket Fuel in Water, Food

At least a quarter-million American one-year-olds are taking in unhealthy levels of rocket fuel with the food and water they drink, according to a new analysis from the Environmental Working Group (EWG).

By analyzing food testing data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the EWG found that about 1 in every 16 one-year-olds in the country is exposed to levels of perchlorate, the explosive ingredient in solid rocket fuel, higher than the government's safety limits.

How does an ingredient in rocket fuel end up in food and water? While some perchlorate can occur naturally, the rest enters food and water supplies via contaminated farm irrigation water. Much of the nation's perchlorate-tainted water comes from the Colorado River, which flows near a defense industry contractor site close to Las Vegas. However, perchlorate has also been found in tap water in 28 states, according to the latest tests reported by the Government Accountability Office in 2005.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in 2006 found that exposure to perchlorate in levels lower than those deemed safe by the government significantly lowered thyroid hormone levels in many women. Pregnant women exposed to perchlorate might therefore have reduce hormone levels that affect their fetus' healthy development. Furthermore, it's unknown how much direct perchlorate exposure might interfere with toddlers' health, according to the EWG.

The EWG blames defense industry pressure for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) failure so far to establish safety standards for perchlorate in tap water. While the EPA sets a general safe exposure limit of 0.7 micrograms of perchlorate per kilogram of body weight per day, the agency this April decided to indefinitely put off development of safe limits for tap water.

"One- and two-year old children should not be exposed to rocket fuel chemicals at levels that are above the EPA safe dose," said Anila Jacob, a senior scientist at the EWG. "EPA's foot dragging over tap water safety standards has potentially placed the development of hundreds of thousands of young children in jeopardy."

Two states -- California and Massachusetts -- have already established their own standards for safe levels of perchlorate in tap water. And a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote shortly on a bill that would require the EPA to set a similar federal standard.

Environmental Working Group, "Children Overexposed to Rocket Fuel Chemical." URL: (http://www.ewg.org/node/25497)