A hormone-disrupting chemical used to make rocket fuel is widespread in foods sold in the United States, research has found.
The watchdog Consumer Reports found Perchlorate was present in dozens of fresh fruits, fast foods including hamburgers and fries, and children’s foods such as macaroni and cheese.
Perchlorate is used in rocket fuels, missiles, explosives, airbags and certain types of plastic. The substance leaches into food and water when accidentally released or improperly disposed of at industrial sites where these products are made.
When crops are irrigated with contaminated water, the produce becomes contaminated with it.
Baby and children’s foods, fast foods, and fresh fruits and vegetables had the highest levels of the compound perchlorate.
None of the foods had a concentration of perchlorate in a single serving that could be problematic.
But most Americans consume more than the suggested serving, putting them at risk for increased exposure to the contaminant.
And children, with their lower body weight, could be at especially high risk.
Perchlorate is known to affect people’s hormone levels and wreak havoc on the thyroid.
It has been shown to disrupt the body’s ability to absorb iodine, which is essential for hormone production, which can lead to chronic metabolic disorders such as diabetes.
And in pregnant people, exposure to perchlorate can contribute to neurological conditions in their babies.
Because the environment is usually too cold to activate their decomposition capacity, perchlorate ions can remain unchanged in air, soil and water for many decades.
The researchers analyzed 196 samples of 63 supermarket products and 10 fast food items, which were chosen because previous scientific research has suggested these foods may contain perchlorate.
Baby and children’s foods, such as macaroni and cheese, baby cereal, and yogurt, tested positive for perchlorate.
The baby food had The highest concentration perchlorate, and foods have an average of 19.4 parts per billion.
Consumer Reports researchers said the amount of perchlorate in a single serving of boxed macaroni and cheese (a classic kids’ food) would reach nearly 50 percent of the European Food Safety Authority’s maximum safety limit of 0.3 micrograms per kilogram of body weight.
Servings of infant rice cereal, multigrain infant cereal and organic yogurt would each meet about a quarter of that limit.
‘This means that with one serving of each of the above foods (quite possibly over the course of a single day) a child would exceed the EFSA safe daily limit.’
They added that the amount of perchlorate in a single serving of some fruits or vegetables such as cucumbers and baby carrots would represent 50 percent of the European maximum safe limit.
Fruits and vegetables had a perchlorate concentration of 9.3 ppb, while fast food had a concentration of 7.7 ppb.
Even healthy foods are not safe from contamination, the authors wrote.
When analyzing food and packaging, scientists measured the amounts in parts per billion (PPB).
Foods in plastic containers had the highest levels of perchlorate, 54 ppb, followed by foods wrapped in plastic and cardboard.
While the maximum daily limit recommended by EFSA is 0.3 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day, the EPA has a considerably higher threshold limit of 0.7 micrograms per kg of body weight.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has a higher maximum safety threshold than Europe.
Tunde Akinleye, the CR chemist who oversaw the perchlorate testing, says many food safety experts believe this level is not protective enough and should be significantly lower.
A serving of children’s food, such as packaged macaroni and cheese, would reach almost 50 percent of the European regulatory limit.
Perchlorate is one of thousands of chemicals allowed in food that are currently crowding supermarket shelves.
When rocket and missile manufacturing plants use perchlorate to power their inventions, traces of that fuel leak into groundwater, potentially contaminating the water we drink and the water farmers use to grow crops.
In 2003, the Environmental Working Group tested lettuce for perchlorate to gauge the extent of contamination. The farm that produced the lettuce was located downriver from Lake Mead, where two perchlorate manufacturing plants operated until the 1990s.
Perchlorate was found in 20 percent of lettuce samples from supermarkets.
The compound is also used in the development of plastics to reduce static charges. Baby food containers, for example, often contain perchlorate, which contaminates the food they contain.
It can also leach into foods that come into contact with bleach, which is used as a disinfectant in food processing and for peeling and washing produce.
The likelihood of perchlorate causing damage to the thyroid depends on the basal iodine levels. Iodine is a crucial mineral for hormone production, the primary function of the thyroid gland.
But very few pregnant women get enough, putting them at greater risk of negative effects from perchlorate exposure, including abnormal fetal brain development, lower IQ, and poor maternal health such as weight gain, fatigue, and depression.
Today, more people are iodine deficient than half a century ago. Nearly 25 percent of pregnant women in the United States do not get enough of the mineral.
The EPA has been committed for years to changing the maximum safe limits for perchlorate, but has yet to follow through on that promise, which California (6 ppb) and Massachusetts (2 ppb) have already met.
The CR researchers concluded: “When EPA proposes limits, which the agency has said it will do in 2025, setting strict limits like this could spur cleanup activities in contaminated areas.”