http://www.ewg.org/reports/rocketlettuce/Rocket Fuel (Perchlorate)
Eating lettuce or other vegetables grown in fields irrigated by the Colorado River may expose consumers to toxic pollutants
Eating lettuce or other vegetables grown in fields irrigated by the Colorado River may expose consumers to a larger dose of toxic rocket fuel than is considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to test data and documents obtained by Environmental Working Group (EWG).
Test results never before made public show that leafy vegetables grown with contaminated irrigation water take up, store and concentrate potentially harmful levels of perchlorate, a thyroid toxin that is the explosive main ingredient of rocket and missile fuel.
Sworn depositions and other courtroom documents show that the giant aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin — a major user of perchlorate responsible for widespread contamination of Southern California water supplies — knew as early as 1997 that vegetables stored high concentrations of the chemical, but said nothing to the EPA or state health officials.
Since most perchlorate-related work by defense contractors is done for the U.S. military, the Department of Defense may also have known, but said nothing to warn other agencies, consumers — or farmers whose crops, through no fault of their own, may be tainted by contaminated irrigation water.
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http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/01/05/cold.war.pollution.ap/
Rocket fuel pollutes Southwest water
Sunday, January 5, 2003 Posted: 3:52 PM EST (2052 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A toxic chemical used to fuel Cold War-era missiles and the rockets that put man on the moon has left a legacy of contamination across the Southwest, where it pinches the region's already tight supply of drinking water.
The chemical, called perchlorate, pollutes much of the lower Colorado River -- the main water source for 20 million people across the Southwest -- and has forced the shutdown of hundreds of wells in California.
State and federal officials are still debating how much risk perchlorate poses when ingested and what limits should be set for the chemical, a process slowed partly by lawsuits filed by defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin Corp. that worry they could be on the hook for billions of dollars in cleanup costs.
Thousands of people have sued the companies that once made or handled perchlorate, alleging years of drinking water laced with the chemical have caused cancers and other illnesses.
Adrienne Wise-Tates, 46, has had tumors of the brain and ovaries, multiple cysts in her breasts, cancerous cells found when she had a goiter removed and, most recently, an unknown mass in her left kidney.
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