Fwd: [SoFlaVegans] Polluted Ground Water Contaminating Lettuce

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Studies find disturbing amounts of chemical contamination in lettuce

By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-04-28-lettuce-contamination_x.htm

 

For six months of the year, 70% of the nation's lettuce comes from a

few Western counties irrigated by the Colorado river.

 

Now, two studies have found that some of this winter lettuce is

contaminated with perchlorate, a pollutant that has found its way

into the groundwater in as many as 20 states, from the manufacture of

rocket fuel, flares and munitions and is known to contaminate the

Colorado.

 

A study by the Environmental Working Group found perchlorate in four

of 22 lettuce samples purchased in January and February in the San

Francisco Bay Area.

 

The four positive samples had more than 30 parts per billion of the

pollutant. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set a

preliminary safety level of one part per billion of perchlorate in

water.

 

And recent tests by The Press-Enterprise newspaper of Riverside,

Calif., found perchlorate in 18 of 18 lettuce samples, at an average

of eight parts per billion.

 

Perchlorate affects the thyroid gland and can disrupt hormone

production.

This is of particular concern to pregnant women because proper

thyroid function is crucial to the development of a baby's brain and

nervous system.

 

It's believed that the Colorado's contamination comes from two

now-closed perchlorate plants near Las Vegas. The plants' water is

known to contain perchlorate levels from three to 10 parts per

billion.

 

Lettuce was tested because it is mainly composed of water. Jeff

Farrar of the California Department of Health Services noted that the

environmental group's study was very small, " so no major scientific

conclusions can be drawn from it. "

 

But it does raise important questions. " There's just not a lot of

information out there on perchlorate, both in crops and in animals

used for foods, " he says.

 

In fact, there's no consensus on what a safe level for perchlorate in

water would be. The EPA has asked the National Academy of Sciences to

review its preliminary level of one part per billion.

The state of California has set a water level of four parts per

billion, but no level for food has been set.

 

But the Environmental Working Group's Bill Walker says recent

research shows that to protect infants in utero, it should be set at

0.1 part per billion.

 

This is truly a national issue, says Farrar, and California is

looking for federal agencies to take the lead. A Food and Drug

Administration official said people shouldn't start avoiding lettuce

or changing their diets.

 

Agency scientists are developing ways to test for perchlorate in

foods

before taking a nationwide look at the problem.

 

Perchlorate pollution is highly politicized because almost all

production can be either directly or indirectly traced back to the

military. The Pentagon has argued that perchlorate is safe in

drinking water at levels much higher than the EPA has set.

 

The Bush administration has backed a bill before Congress that would

exempt the Pentagon and defense contractors from environmental

regulations requiring the cleanup of toxic fidyl waste, saying that

compliance would hinder military readiness. Hearings are to begin

next week.

 

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