ROCKET FUEL AND ARSENIC...YUM!

One of the things we have to realize is that virtually nothing we do as humans fails to effect our environment. Everyone thinks that if we all recycle and don't litter, somehow, that'll be good enough. Well, you've probably read how mercury can now be found in most of the fish in the sea, what you probably haven't read about is that a rocket fuel chemical has been found in organic milk, lettuce and even spring water. Some of the healthiest stuff on Earth has been contaminated. Don't take my word for it, here's a clip from [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/perchlorate_contamination|an article] brought to us by AP.org and News.Yahoo.com:

The government has found traces of a rocket fuel chemical in organic milk in Maryland, green leaf lettuce grown in Arizona and bottled spring water from Texas and California. What's not clear is the significance of the data, collected by the Food and Drug Administration through Aug. 19.

Sufficient amounts of perchlorate can affect the thyroid, potentially causing delayed development and other problems.

Now, the article goes on to quote an EPA official as saying that this is all no cause for alarm--but these are the same guys who pushed the standard for arsenic in drinking water from 10 parts per billion back up to 50ppb, which was the standard in 1942. Check out this clip from [http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2004/11/1morewar1.html|a post] over at McSweeneys.net:

In March 2001, President Bush's EPA announced that it would withdraw a new standard for arsenic in drinking water and reinstate an outdated standard established in 1942. The lower standard cuts costs significantly for the mining industry and water suppliers.

The new standard—10 parts per billion (ppb)—was implemented by the Clinton administration after a decade of testing and studies. One of those studies authorized by Congress cost $2.5 million annually from 1997 to 2000. Another report, by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 1999, concluded that the previous 50 ppb standard could "easily" result in a 1-in-100 cancer risk and recommended that acceptable levels be lowered "as promptly as possible."

So, DRINK UP, AMERICA!

Remember, MILK: It does a body good?

From AP.org and News.Yahoo.com:

Rocket Fuel Chemical Found in Organic Milk

Tue Nov 30,11:41 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The government has found traces of a rocket fuel chemical in organic milk in Maryland, green leaf lettuce grown in Arizona and bottled spring water from Texas and California. What's not clear is the significance of the data, collected by the Food and Drug Administration through Aug. 19.

Sufficient amounts of perchlorate can affect the thyroid, potentially causing delayed development and other problems.

But Environmental Protection Agency official Kevin Mayer called for calm, saying in an interview Tuesday: "Alarm is not warranted. That is clear."

"I think that it is important that EPA and FDA and other agencies come to some resolution about the toxicity of this chemical," Mayer said. "That has been, frankly, a struggle for the last few years."

The FDA found that of the various food items it tested, iceberg lettuce grown in Belle Glade, Fla., had the highest concentrations of perchlorate. The greens had 71.6 parts per billion of the compound, the primary ingredient in solid rocket propellent. Red leaf lettuce grown in El Centro, Calif., had 52 ppb of perchlorate. Most of the purified, distilled and spring bottled water tested around the nation tested had no detectable amount of perchlorate.

Whole organic milk in Maryland, however, had 11.3 ppb of perchlorate.

Asked whether that level of chemical in milk was worrisome, Mayer, the EPA's regional perchlorate coordinator for Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada, said, "The answer is, we don't know yet."

The FDA said in a statement that consumers should not change their eating habits in response to the test results, posted on the agency's Web site Friday.

The testing comes as federal agencies try find how much perchlorate people are exposed to from food so they can determine whether action is needed to protect the public health. Federal agencies have been trying since the early 1990s to determine what level of perchlorate is safe.

The state of California, meanwhile, set a standard of no more than 10 ppb of perchlorate in drinking water. That was lowered to 6 ppb in drinking water to account for the chemical also lacing food, Mayer said.

A more conservative suggestion, in a draft from the EPA, would allow no more than 1 ppb of perchlorate in drinking water.

The FDA tested lettuce samples collected at farms and packing sheds and bottled water from retail stores. Raw milk samples came from a research facility in Maryland and other milk samples were obtained from retail stores.

"These data are exploratory and should not be understood to be a reflection of the distribution of perchlorate in the U.S. food supply," the agency said in a statement. "Until more is known about the health effects of perchlorate and its occurrence in foods, FDA continues to recommend that consumers eat a balanced diet, choosing a variety of foods that are low in trans fat and saturated fat, and rich in high-fiber grains, fruits and vegetables."

Copyright © 2004 The Associated Press