The Environmental Working Group (EWG) performed an analysis showing 44 million American women who are pregnant, thyroid deficient or have low iodine levels may have increased health risks due to perchlorate exposure. Perchlorate can lower levels of thyroid hormones in women, causing possible issues with proper fetus development and with later infant development as well.
In response to the CDC study that was just released, Renee Sharp, an EWG analyst with a history of studying perchlorate, said, "The Pentagon and defense contractors, who are responsible for much of the perchlorate in drinking water supplies, have lobbied hard against federal standards, arguing that perchlorate posed no threat to healthy adults � this new study shows that even very small levels of perchlorate in water or food can have a marked effect on thyroid levels in women. We can't ignore this serious public health issue any longer."
Most perchlorate made in the United States is used by the Department of Defense to manufacture solid rocket and missile fuel, with smaller amounts of perchlorate being used to make fireworks and road flares. In addition to these common uses, perchlorate is also a contaminant of certain fertilizer types that were widely used in the early part of the 1900s, but which are now in very limited use.
Tests by the CDC and independent researchers confirm that many Americans -- determined out of a sample of urine tests from 3,000 Americans -- are carrying levels of perchlorate in their systems well above levels known to lower thyroid levels.
More than 1,000 tests by government and independent scientists conclude that US population is being widely exposed to perchlorate, both in water and in the food supply.
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