Rocket-Powered Babies?

What do rocket fuel, airbags, fireworks, breast milk and infant formula have in common? Don’t know. I’m not surprised.

They all contain perchlorates which are the salts derived from perchloric acid (HClO4). These salts occur naturally and through manufacturing. Medicinally, they have been used to treat thyroid gland disorders for over 50 years; but, they are also used as an oxidizer in rocket fuel and explosives. They are also found in airbags and fireworks.

Lately, there has been a new risk discovered concerning perchlorates. Not only are they found in US drinking water; but, they have been found in 15 brands of powdered infant formula. The scientists at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued a warning along with their report. The team warned that mixing perchlorate-tainted formula powder with perchlorate-tainted tapwater can boost the resulting formula above the EPA’s “safe” levels. Perchlorate pollution has been found in the drinking water of 28 states and territories.

Click here to sign a petition for ask newly-appointed EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to set a safe drinking water standard for perchlorate.

Click here to read the Environmental Working Group’s analysis.