Poison, From the Far Right? (Rocket Fuel...)

From: Jim Burns (jameshburns_at_webtv.net)
Date: 02/28/05 

Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 20:06:43 -0500

"Rocket Fuel, Found in Breast Milk..."

The Bush administration's lack of appropriate scientific safeguards, and
total lack of regard for a strong EPA, and environmental standards, are
starting to have concrete, demonstrable negative effects, on the health
of our nation.

One shouldn't misunderstand the following story: There's no need, here,
of course, to mention that a strong and visionary rocket, and space,
program, is ABSOLUTELY essential to the future benefit of ALL mankind.

(Astronomer Ken Croswell once had a great quote--which can be useful, I
think, when debating the merits of the costs of the space program, with
those who aren't convinced--

(When he wrote, "The chief reason our lives today are better than they
were in medieval times is because of advances in science, technology,
and medicine.  And to quote Karl Schwarzschild, 'Mathematics, physics,
chemistry, and astronomy march in one front.  Whichever lags behind is
drawn after.  Whichever hastens ahead helps on the others.'  The
point is that we should fund all the sciences, broadly rather than
narrowly, since we don't know which will deliver the breakthroughs.")

But as with any revolutionary technology, or involved industrial
process, the proper precautions, and oversight, must be maintained.

Jim Burns
        
 
Rocket Fuel Chemical Found in Breast Milk of Women in 18 States
By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Senior Writer
www.space.com
posted: 24 February 2005

A toxic component of rocket fuel has been found in breast milk of women
in 18 states and store-bought milk from various locations around the
country.

The chemical, perchlorate, can impede adult metabolism and cause
retardation in fetuses, among other things. It leaches into groundwater
from various military facilities.
Previous studies have found perchlorate in drinking water, on lettuce,
and in cows milk.

The new research, announced this week, suggests perchlorate is a bigger
problem than thought, scientists said.

Texas Tech University researchers studied 36 samples of breast milk from
women in 18 states and 47 samples cow's milk purchased from stores in 11
states. Every sample of breast milk contained perchlorate, as did all
but one sample of dairy milk.

The highest levels were found in women from New Jersey, New Mexico,
Missouri, Nebraska and California, in that order.

The results are detailed in the online version of Environmental Science
& Technology, a journal of the American Chemical Society. The work was
led by Texas Tech biochemist Purnendu Dasgupta.

"We've got to come to grips with the perchlorate situation quickly,''
said California Senator Dianne Feinstein in a statement. "And EPA has to
move quickly to set a national drinking water standard that protects the
health and safety of all Americans.''

Perchlorate occurs naturally and is also a primary ingredient in solid
rocket fuel, munitions and fireworks. Perchlorate does not build up in
human tissues over time, scientists say, but there has been speculation
it could accumulate in breast milk.

In excess, the chemical can interfere with iodide uptake in the thyroid
gland, disrupting adult metabolism and childhood development, scientists
say.

In fetuses, it can potentially cause mental retardation, loss of hearing
and speech, and motor skill deficits.

The average perchlorate concentration in breast milk samples was 10.5
micrograms per liter. The dairy milk average was 2.0 micrograms per
liter. No definitive national standard exists, although the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency had suggested a limit of 1.0 micrograms
per liter in drinking water.

The study also found that high levels of perchlorate in the breast milk
samples were indeed related to low levels of iodide. Low iodide levels
can inhibit thyroid function in nursing women. Scientists admit there is
limited data, but Dasgupta and colleagues said the levels found in the
study are "sufficiently low to be of concern."

They suggest that the recommended daily intake of iodine for pregnant
and nursing women may need to be revised upward.
The report should not raise undue alarm, said Ed Urbansky, a former
Environmental Protection Agency chemist who was not involved in the
latest study.

"It's very difficult to determine what the findings might be other than
to know it might be in so many milk samples,'' Urbansky said.

Perchlorate is in the drinking water of at least 11 million U.S.
residents, other research has shown. The chemical is present in the
Colorado river, which provides water to Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las
Vegas and is used to irrigate 70 percent of the nation's lettuce crops,
according to the Environmental Working Group, which studied the problem
in 2003 in cooperation with scientists at Texas Tech.

An overview study of perchlorate released in January by the National
Academies' National Research Council (NRC) tried to assess the risk, but
scientists continue to argue about how much of the chemical is too much.

Also in January, a study out of Russia claimed children near
Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome, where rockets are launched, are twice
as likely to require medical attention as other children in the region.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
 
 
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Relevant Pages

  • Rocket-Fuel Chemical Found in Breast Milk
    ... Rocket-Fuel Chemical Found in Breast Milk ... concerns about the substance's effect on the thyroid and brain. ... Scientists on Tuesday reported that perchlorate, ... The findings concern health experts because infants and fetuses are the most ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Rocket-Fuel Chemical Found in Breast Milk
    ... Mike Rhino wrote: ... > Rocket-Fuel Chemical Found in Breast Milk ... > Perchlorate is found in almost all samples tested, a study finds, raising ...
    (sci.space.policy)