News Coverage
Pollutant detected in winter produce
Environmental group calls for federal tests
Published April 27, 2003
Some samples of winter lettuce had detectable levels of a rocket fuel ingredient in it, and the Food and Drug Administration should start a formal testing program, according to a report released today by an environmental group.
The report, called "Suspect Salads' by the Oakland-based Environmental Working Group, projects that up to 1.6 million women of childbearing age throughout the nation could be taking in unacceptable amounts of perchlorate during winter months.
"The presence of perchlorate in lettuce isn't just a regional problem, but a national problem for people who buy winter lettuce,' said Bill Walker of the Environmental Working Group.
Perchlorate, a main ingredient in solid rocket fuel, has been found in at least 22 states and has been a major problem in San Bernardino County, with major areas of contaminated groundwater in Redlands, Loma Linda, Rialto, Colton and Fontana.
The environmental group said the lettuce on the shelves now is not from the area where they suspect the contamination is occurring.
This time of year lettuce is grown in other parts of California.
"We're not talking about the lettuce on the shelves now,' Walker said. "We don't want to create a food scare.'
The report focuses on perchlorate contamination in the Colorado River and lettuce grown in the winter months in the Imperial Valley and just to the east in Yuma County, Ariz.
The report is scheduled to be on the group's Web site today at www.ewg.org.
Lettuce grown locally with contaminated water from Redlands also showed levels of perchlorate several years ago, and those results are included in a 6-year-old lawsuit by about 800 residents of Mentone and Redlands who believe their health problems are the result of drinking contaminated water.
"This shows (contamination of lettuce) isn't an isolated incident, and why wouldn't it be in other places?' said Gary Praglin, one of the lead attorneys in the lawsuit.
More than 80 percent of the lettuce consumed in the country is grown in the Imperial Valley and Yuma County during winter, and farmers there rely largely on the Colorado River for irrigation.
The river is being contaminated by an estimated 500 pounds per day of perchlorate leaching from the soil outside a former Kerr-McGee Corp. plant near Henderson, Nev. The perchlorate runs into the Las Vegas Wash and then into Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam.
The chemical is known to disrupt thyroid function and is thought to be especially dangerous to fetuses and infants who rely on a properly functioning thyroid for proper brain development.
Industry officials hadn't seen the study, which was released early to the media, and weren't sure how to react.
"It'll be a big concern to us, but we haven't seen the report,' said Steve Pastor, executive director of the Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers Association.
Retailers said they have to rely on government regulators, and also could not comment on the study they hadn't seen.
"Obviously, the health of our customers is our first priority, but we really depend on state, federal and local agencies to provide direction,' said Stacia Levenfeld, spokeswoman for Albertsons supermarkets.
Walker emphasized the research was based on a small sample, and they assumed the lettuce came from the Imperial Valley, though they can't be absolutely sure. He said the report raises far more questions than it answers and it's up to the government to do a full scientific analysis.
To do the report, the group bought 22 samples of various types of lettuce in January and February from seven stores in Northern California and sent them to Texas Tech University for testing.
Four of the samples showed levels of perchlorate ranging from 30 parts per billion to 121 parts per billion. Walker said it's possible other samples had perchlorate in them, because in water, perchlorate can be detected down to about 4 parts per billion and in food the lower limit of detection is about 30 parts per billion.
To get the estimate that 1.6 million women of childbearing age could be consuming unsafe levels of perchlorate in lettuce during winter, analysts for the group looked at databases from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on eating habits.
The report said a one-cup, two-ounce serving of lettuce with the average amount of contamination would be equal to about 4 parts per billion in water.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in its draft estimate for a safe level of perchlorate, recommends a safe level of 1 part per billion. That recommendation is being reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences and is not an enforceable legal limit on the amount of perchlorate that can be in drinking water.
It's not clear when the federal government will establish an enforceable drinking water standard for perchlorate.
California health officials have recommended a safe limit of between 2 and 6 parts per billion, and the state is required by law to adopt a drinking water standard next year.
Federal studies on perchlorate in food have been conducted but have never been published. EPA officials who normally talk about perchlorate referred all media calls about today's report to Washington, D.C.
"We are not going to comment until the National Academy of Sciences review is done of our draft risk assessment,' said Suzanne Ackerman, spokeswoman for the EPA.
The FDA did not return phone calls, but Walker said his group talked to an FDA official earlier who told him the agency is working on developing a testing protocol.