I protest.: And you thought salads were good for you.

April 28, 2003

Government

And you thought salads were good for you.

"Noam Alaska" at Demagogue points out this report from the Environmental Working Group: Suspect Salads: Toxic Rocket Fuel Found in Samples of Winter Lettuce. Okay, we've got perchlorates in our lettuce. But that's not bad enough. From the Demagogue article (quoting the Wall Street Journal):

The Bush administration has imposed a gag order on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from publicly discussing perchlorate pollution, even as two new studies reveal high levels of the rocket-fuel component may be contaminating the nation's lettuce supply....

The gag order prevented EPA scientists from commenting or elaborating Friday on the two lettuce studies, which show lettuce, available in U.S. supermarkets, appears to absorb and concentrate perchlorate from polluted irrigation water in significant amounts. Other scientists familiar with the studies said both are limited in scope and are only suggestive, not conclusive, on the question of whether Americans are consuming perchlorate in food.

So not only are we consuming perchlorates, but the Administration wants to hide it from us. Why? Because they're trying to "exempt the Pentagon and defense industry from much of their potential liability for perchlorate cleanup." Turns out that there's a bill in Congress right now that has this as a part of it.

Sigh. Time to write my legislators again.

UPDATE: There's an article in the San Jose Mercury News about this as well.

Posted by Frank at April 28, 2003 8:21 AM

Comments

As California�s former Secretary for Environmental Protection and former chief law enforcement officer for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, I share the public demand that the facts about perchlorate become available and accessible to as many people as possible.

It is absolutely essential that regulatory agencies have access to the best possible scientific information on which to base critical decisions. To do otherwise would risk creating a drinking water standard for perchlorate that fails to provide public health benefit while imposing staggering costs�not only unnecessarily burdening taxpayers and ratepayers, but also diverting resources from other important needs. This is important everywhere, and nowhere more than in California, where we are struggling to maintain services during a historic budgetary crisis.

In the midst of these challenges, there is very good news. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS), recognizing the importance of this issue nationally, has convened a panel of experts to review the science. This affords state governments the opportunity to obtain and apply the best available scientific information in setting regulatory standards. Given California�s longstanding commitment to environmental leadership, the timing could not be better.

The NAS will have a large body of credible research on perchlorate from which to draw, going back half a century, when perchlorate was in widespread use as a medication to treat thyroid problems. You will see on the Web site www.councilonwaterquality.org, credible scientific studies have found no adverse effects on human health from low levels of perchlorate. Widely accepted scientific evidence indicates that perchlorate does not cause cancer or birth defects, and is not stored in the body.

Just as the NAS is a unique forum to bring together science in neutral, respected forum, the Council on Water Quality Web site aims to become a reliable source of information on perchlorate.

James

Posted by: James Strock at November 7, 2003 9:50 AM

I, too, am looking forward to the results of the National Academy of Sciences study on the health effects of perchlorate.

Readers should know that Mr. Strock's organization, the Council on Water Quality, is not a disinterested party. It is an organization created and funded by the perchlorate industry. More reliable information can be found on the Web sites of the U.S. EPA and FDA.

Posted by: N. Viro at December 15, 2003 9:58 PM