Children Overexposed to Rocket Fuel Chemical

Publication Date: October 2007

Publisher: Environmental Working Group

Author(s): Jane Houlihan; Anila Jacob; Renee Sharp

Research Area: Environment

Keywords: tap water; perchlorate; rocket fuel

Type: Report

Abstract:

As a House committee prepares to vote on a bill requiring the EPA to set a safety standard to protect children from the rocket fuel contaminant perchlorate in tap water, a new analysis by Environmental Working Group finds that 250,000 one-year-olds are exposed to perchlorate above the government’s safe dose, from food sources alone. This is the equivalent of 1 in every 16 one-year-olds in the country. In the 28 states where perchlorate contaminates tap water, children face even higher exposures and potential health harm. The Congress is considering action in large part because the Bush EPA, bending to defense industry pressure, decided in April, 2007, to indefinitely delay development of tap water standards for perchlorate, leaving hundreds of thousands of children unprotected.