A study of CDC employees designed to test new methods of looking for the rocket fuel chemical perchlorate in humans stumbled upon unusually high levels of perchlorate in its subjects. Since Atlanta's water has extremely low levels of the chemical, and all 62 subjects' urine tested higher than the water, CDC scientists suspect that perchlorate is getting into people through their diets at higher levels than previously believed.
Perchlorate has been found in milk and lettuce. The EPA needs to know how much people are getting from food so safe levels can be set for drinking water. Perchlorate may affect the thyroid, brain and nervous system, especially in developing children.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise article is here, and EWG's work on rocket fuel is here.
