Perchlorate

In the chemical families: Inorganic salts, Perchlorate

Ammonium perchlorate is the oxidant in solid rocket fuel. Ignited with aluminum powder, the fuel burns at up to 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hurling the space shuttle out of the atmosphere and propelling ballistic missiles across continents. A combination of nitrogen, hydrogen, chlorine and oxygen, ammonium perchlorate is an essential component of military explosives, bottle rockets, fireworks, highway flares, automobile airbags and old-fashioned black powder.

Ammonium perchlorate and other perchlorate compounds are widespread contaminants of drinking water and some foods such as milk and vegetables.

During the Cold War, tons of improperly stored rocket fuel seeped into ground waters around rocket and missile test sites and chemical manufacturing and storage facilities. Defense and aerospace contractors have opposed regulation of perchlorates, for fear of being ordered to bear part or all of the costs of perchlorate clean-ups, expenses that could run into the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.

Scientific research has established that perchlorate in significant amounts disrupts production of thyroid hormones, and adequate thyroid hormones are crucial to normal brain development and growth in the fetus, infants and young children.

In a 2001 investigation called Rocket Science: Perchlorate and the Toxic Legacy of the Cold War, EWG found that perchlorates had been detected in the sources of drinking water for more than 7 million Californians. A 2003 EWG analysis of government data, Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water, determined that perchlorate had been found in drinking water, groundwater or soil in at least 43 states. EWG commissioned independent laboratory tests of lettuce grown in the fall and winter in Southern California or Arizona. Some 18 percent of the lettuce samples contained perchlorates; someone who ate an average serving of these suspect salads would consume 4 times more perchlorates than the level considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 2004, EWG-commissioned lab tests of milk sold in Los Angeles and Orange County, CA, supermarkets found that 31 of 32 samples contained perchlorates, some at unsafe levels for infants and children.

A 2006 CDC survey of 1,100 women that indicated that perchlorate exposure may have caused decreases in critical thyroid hormone levels, especially the 36 percent of U.S. women whose iodide intake is on the low side. Based on that data, EWG estimated that as many as 44 million women who are pregnant, thyroid deficient or have low iodine levels are at heightened risk of exposure to the chemical.

Other CDC studies have found perchlorate in the urine of every person tested and have discovered that children between 6 and 11 had perchlorate levels 1.6 times higher than adults.

In 2005, researchers at Texas Tech University found perchlorate in 36 breast-milk samples from nursing mothers in 17 states; the average concentration in breast milk was five times greater than in dairy milk.

An EWG analysis of data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), published in January 2008, found that 75 percent of nearly 300 commonly consumed foods and beverages were contaminated with perchlorate.

A September 2008 University of Texas research team study found that perchlorate inhibits the transport of iodine through human breast milk. Breast-fed infants are completely dependent on maternal iodine, the building block for thyroid hormones that control brain development. The Texas study suggests infants are actually being contaminated with perchlorate and denied iodine, a double-whammy that could lead to subtle IQ and developmental deficits.

In March 2009, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 15 brands of powdered infant formula were contaminated with perchlorate. The CDC findings, published in the March 2009 edition of the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, warned that mixing perchlorate-tainted formula powder with tap water containing “even minimal amounts” of the chemical could boost the resulting mixture’s toxin content above the level the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considered safe.

Based on this study, EWG urged the Obama administration to set a legally enforceable upper limit on perchlorate water contamination. EPA administrator Lisa Jackson agreed. On Feb. 2, 2011, she announced EPA's intent to begin regulating perchlorate in drinking water.

Health Effects related to Perchlorate: Birth or developmental effects, Endocrine system, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

Routes of Exposure related to Perchlorate:

• Environment: agriculture, industrial water pollution
• Food: vegetables
• Found in people
• Miscellaneous
• Water

More chemicals in Inorganic salts: manganese sulfate, salt, potassium bromide, sodium tetraborate, sodium percarbonate, aluminium hydroxide, iron oxide black, potassium nitrate, potassium persulfate, potassium phosphate, view all...

More chemicals in Perchlorate: view all...