NOTE: Links below, including one that allows you to find out if perchlorate has been detected in your water:
The CDC reported last month (quietly, it seems) that scientists there found perchlorate or rocket fuel in several brands of formula, in levels that "could" exceed levels that are safe for adults. While this is terrible news, it is not exactly surprising. As I reported last year, percholorate is found in water supplies across the country and, as a result, in a lot of food. Much of this is due to contamination from defense contracting sites (which, incidentally, many of these contractors flatly refuse to clean up). Large amounts of the chemical can affect thyroid function but no long term studies have been done on the effects of ingestion over long periods of time or in babies. Note that this study did not assess the risks of Perchlorate, however. It merely showed that the chemical was present in baby formula.
What's even more useful (sarcasm intended) is that the author sof the study refused to disclose which formula brands contained the chemical. They only went so far as to say that it was cow milk-based formulas that contained the highest amount of perc.
If you feed your baby formula, don't panic. While I am a proponent of breastfeeding and believe it vastly superior to formula feeding, I am a realist. Not everyone can or wants to do it. If you are a formula feeding mom or dad, don't stop feeding your baby formula because of this report. He/she needs it if not breastfeeding, and the benefits clearly outweigh the drawbacks at this point. We simply don't know enough to make any informed decisions, such as which formula brands are the culprits. As an aside, I've seen several self-righteous blog postings by breastfeeding moms who say, 'whew, this is why I'm glad I breastfeed!' Sadly, breastfeeding does not keep our children safe from this chemical. If you drink water, you probably have perc in your system and that is probably excreted into your breastmilk. This was a sad realization I had when I was breastfeeding my son--although, luckily, the Tap Water Quality database indicates that the water I drink in my city is not contaminated by perchlorate. Nothing gets you on the bandwagon quicker than realizing that even breastmilk isn't pristine because of the industrial waste and exposure we are forced ot live with. This is why everyone--absolutely everyone--has a stake in getting this shit out of our groundwater.
My single biggest piece of advice, at this time, when it comes to perchlorate (and use the search field on this site to search for my earlier post on this chemical) is to get some kind of water filtration system. If you mix your baby formula with filtered water you will drastically cut back on the amount of perchlorate your baby is exposed to if you live in one of the parts of the country that has this problem. We have a Culligan system that costs $30 a month.
More information from the Organic Consumers Association on perchlorate contamination of our water and food supply. I also want to draw your attention to the inability or unwillingness of local and federal legislators to do anything about this issue. Only Diane Feinstein of California has had the balls to propose any kind of legislation that would force clean-up of these sites. Rest assured, though, that the media attention on this issue will suddenly make legislators very...attentive...to this issue. It would help, though, to send letters to your local and federal legislators. It's always important to write your local representatives because, as we've seen with BPA, sometimes the state governments and even municipal governments, take action before the sluggish federal monster awakens.
Finally, look up your state's exposure to perchlorate in the water supply at the National Tap Water Database. In Minnesota, for example, the cities of Moorhead and Minneapolis had perchlorate contamination of their water supplies. Click on "Find Your Water Company" to see the report on your city's water supply. You might have to search for perchlorate. For my city, for example, it was down in a long list of chemicals "tested for but not detected."
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