Rocket chemical found in lettuce

[Guest guest]

Rocket chemical found in lettuce

Scientist not alarmed by oxidant's path through Colorado River water

to Arizona, California fields.

LARRY COPENHAVER

Tucson Citizen

A chemical used as an oxidant in rocket fuels has been detected in

some samples of leafy vegetables irrigated with Colorado River

water, said a University of Arizona research scientist.

The chemical, perchlorate, apparently seeped into the river from a

rocket fuel factory outside Las Vegas, said ,

director of the Yuma Agricultural Center, part of the UA College of

Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Mixed with the river water, the chemical flowed south and into

irrigation canals and fields in California and Arizona, he said.

There, traces were taken up by the roots of plants and deposited in

leaves.

Contaminants were found in the outside leaves and sometimes in the

pithy framework of lettuce, not in the tender leaves people eat, he

said.

" We are not particularly alarmed by the findings, " said,

referring to a study funded by the Arizona Iceberg Lettuce Research

Council. " We think the risk is minimal or nonexistent. "

And there is no reason to avoid eating vegetables from plants

irrigated with Colorado River water, he said. " I eat salads every

day. "

Although romaine lettuce also showed traces of the chemical, other

vegetables tested, such as corn and peppers, showed no detectable

levels.

The impetus for the research was a concern that perchlorate would

make its way into the human food chain through vegetables such as

broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce, he said. It affects humans by

inhibiting the thyroid's uptake of iodine.

Perchlorate levels in water have been measured as high as 14 parts

per billion, detected at Lake Mead, the reservoir behind Hoover Dam,

said from his Yuma office in a phone interview. It appears

that microbial organisms capable of reducing perchlorate to chloride

are fairly widespread.

cautioned that the data were preliminary and more work needs

to be done. " We have a long way to go in our research, but it

appears contamination levels are below that that would be dangerous. "

Other important research needed is to evaluate the extent to which

perchlorate has accumulated in soils and to what extent it has

tainted groundwater, he said.

Meanwhile, there is a debate over the suitable standard of

perchlorate in water and how much is safe for human consumption.

[Guest guest]

> This is old news from the last several years. Did this reporter

just find out?

maybe he's hypothyroid and so it's " news " to most of us who have been

in brain fog...LOL

[Guest guest]

This is old news from the last several years. Did this reporter just find out?

Rocket chemical found in lettuce

Rocket chemical found in lettuce

Scientist not alarmed by oxidant's path through Colorado River water

to Arizona, California fields.

LARRY COPENHAVER

Tucson Citizen

A chemical used as an oxidant in rocket fuels has been detected in

some samples of leafy vegetables irrigated with Colorado River

water, said a University of Arizona research scientist.

The chemical, perchlorate, apparently seeped into the river from a

rocket fuel factory outside Las Vegas, said ,

director of the Yuma Agricultural Center, part of the UA College of

Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Mixed with the river water, the chemical flowed south and into

irrigation canals and fields in California and Arizona, he said.

There, traces were taken up by the roots of plants and deposited in

leaves.

Contaminants were found in the outside leaves and sometimes in the

pithy framework of lettuce, not in the tender leaves people eat, he

said.

" We are not particularly alarmed by the findings, " said,

referring to a study funded by the Arizona Iceberg Lettuce Research

Council. " We think the risk is minimal or nonexistent. "

And there is no reason to avoid eating vegetables from plants

irrigated with Colorado River water, he said. " I eat salads every

day. "

Although romaine lettuce also showed traces of the chemical, other

vegetables tested, such as corn and peppers, showed no detectable

levels.

The impetus for the research was a concern that perchlorate would

make its way into the human food chain through vegetables such as

broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce, he said. It affects humans by

inhibiting the thyroid's uptake of iodine.

Perchlorate levels in water have been measured as high as 14 parts

per billion, detected at Lake Mead, the reservoir behind Hoover Dam,

said from his Yuma office in a phone interview. It appears

that microbial organisms capable of reducing perchlorate to chloride

are fairly widespread.

cautioned that the data were preliminary and more work needs

to be done. " We have a long way to go in our research, but it

appears contamination levels are below that that would be dangerous. "

Other important research needed is to evaluate the extent to which

perchlorate has accumulated in soils and to what extent it has

tainted groundwater, he said.

Meanwhile, there is a debate over the suitable standard of

perchlorate in water and how much is safe for human consumption.

[Guest guest]

Probably, but I think someone said it was an urban legend/hoax and

not true. IMO, there's no telling what's in our produce these days.

Heck, one would think it was gold the way they charge for the stuff.

Ella

> This is old news from the last several years. Did this reporter

just find out?

[Guest guest]

> No, it is true. AZ and CA. The amount is minimal, but there.

Actually the veggies come out of Mexico scare me more.

There was also something a few years back about an outbreak of e-coli

on the lettuce from the workers presumably not washing their hands

correctly after using the bathroom and that you should wash your

lettuce thoroughly and remove the outer leaves and discard...if it's

not pesticides, it's something else. I even scrub watermelons and

bananas before opening them now too.