Guest guest Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 When I first read this, the question of how we know organic lettuce is free of perchlorate entered my mind. Afterall, perchlorate contamination is found in soil, ground water and drinking water supplies in more locations than the Colorado River basin (though that appears to be the largest area of contamination in the U.S.) Anyway, I looked around a bit on the web and found some information that indicates some organic lettuce is just as contaminated as conventionally grown. At least in the list of lettuce samples tested by the FDA last year, the ones listed as organic had as much and sometimes more perchlorate contamination as non-organic: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/clo4data.html Also, fyi, here are tables I found listing locations of perchlorate contamination in drinking water, ground water and soil across the country: http://www.ewg.org/reports/rocketwater/table3.php http://www.ewg.org/reports/rocketwater/table4.php Lastly, the reason lettuce (and milk) have been the focus of media attention concerning perchlorate contamination is because that is where the FDA has focused it's testing. The testing continues and makes one wonder what other produce will be found contaminated as well. Will we ever stop poisoning our planet and ourselves? Kim, feeling rather depressed this morning over being the bearer of bad news On Mar 14, 2005, at 10:41 AM, INFO @ Vibrant Life wrote: > > 1. Whether or not you are buying organic products in general (yet?), > PLEASE > buy only organic lettuce. Almost 100% of the US lettuce supply is > known to > be severely contaminated with perchlorate. Perchlorate is a byproduct > of > burning jet and rocket fuel. For years, the air force has been > dropping this > chemical (supposedly unknowingly, until recently) throughout the > Colorado > river basin where almost all the nation's nonorganic lettuce is > grown. Both > the plants and the underlying soil are contaminated. > > This chemical is deadly, there is presently no known way to break it > down. > The EPA released a report on this in 2004, so this is fairly recent > information in terms of government reporting. (Known for a long time > in some > circles, but now it's " official. " ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Another project of the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org) shows the difference in pesticide contamination of conventional vs. organically-grown produce. Check out foodnews.org. It's great. On Sat, 19 Mar 2005, Kimberly Dawkins wrote: > > When I first read this, the question of how we know organic lettuce is > free of perchlorate entered my mind. Afterall, perchlorate > contamination is found in soil, ground water and drinking water > supplies in more locations than the Colorado River basin (though that > appears to be the largest area of contamination in the U.S.) > > Anyway, I looked around a bit on the web and found some information > that indicates some organic lettuce is just as contaminated as > conventionally grown. At least in the list of lettuce samples tested > by the FDA last year, the ones listed as organic had as much and > sometimes more perchlorate contamination as non-organic: > > http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/clo4data.html > > Also, fyi, here are tables I found listing locations of perchlorate > contamination in drinking water, ground water and soil across the > country: > > http://www.ewg.org/reports/rocketwater/table3.php > > http://www.ewg.org/reports/rocketwater/table4.php > > Lastly, the reason lettuce (and milk) have been the focus of media > attention concerning perchlorate contamination is because that is where > the FDA has focused it's testing. The testing continues and makes one > wonder what other produce will be found contaminated as well. Will we > ever stop poisoning our planet and ourselves? > > Kim, feeling rather depressed this morning over being the bearer of bad > news > > > On Mar 14, 2005, at 10:41 AM, INFO @ Vibrant Life wrote: > > > > 1. Whether or not you are buying organic products in general (yet?), > > PLEASE > > buy only organic lettuce. Almost 100% of the US lettuce supply is > > known to > > be severely contaminated with perchlorate. Perchlorate is a byproduct > > of > > burning jet and rocket fuel. For years, the air force has been > > dropping this > > chemical (supposedly unknowingly, until recently) throughout the > > Colorado > > river basin where almost all the nation's nonorganic lettuce is > > grown. Both > > the plants and the underlying soil are contaminated. > > > > This chemical is deadly, there is presently no known way to break it > > down. > > The EPA released a report on this in 2004, so this is fairly recent > > information in terms of government reporting. (Known for a long time > > in some > > circles, but now it's " official. " ) > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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