April, 02 2009, 11:52am EDT
CDC: Rocket Fuel Chemical in Most Powdered Infant Formula
Infants Exposed to Unsafe Levels of Thyroid Toxin
WASHINGTON
Researchers
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have found
that 15 brands of powdered infant formula are contaminated with
perchlorate, a rocket fuel component detected in drinking water in 28
states and territories. The two most contaminated brands, made from
cow's milk, accounted for 87 percent of the U.S. powdered formula
market in 2000, the scientists said.
The CDC findings, published in the March 2009 edition of the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology
, raise new concerns about perchlorate pollution, a legacy of Cold War
rocket and missile tests. Studies have established that the chemical is
a potent thyroid toxin that may interfere with fetal and infant brain
development.
The CDC study said that reconstituting cow's milk/lactose formula with
water contaminated with perchlorate at just 4 parts per billion (ppb)
would cause 54 percent of the infants consuming the mix to exceed the
so-called "safe" dose set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Many scientists contend that the EPA "safe" level is too high to
protect public health.
"Perchlorate contamination of drinking water is a very serious concern,
particularly for infants," said Anila Jacob, M.D., M.P.H., a senior
scientist with Environmental Working Group (EWG). "As this
unprecedented study demonstrates, infants fed cow's milk- based
powdered formula could be exposed to perchlorate from two sources - tap
water and formula. That suggests that millions of American babies are
potentially at risk."
Dr. Jacob's analysis of the CDC study can be found at the following link:
https://www.ewg.org/report/CDC-Scientists-Find-Rocket-Fuel-Chemical-In-Infant-FormulaÂ
While these findings are of concern, the CDC scientists also noted that
FDA requires infant formula to be supplemented with iodine, a nutrient
that can counteract the negative effects of perchlorate on the thyroid
gland. The range of required iodine concentrations in formula is
between 5 and 75 micrograms per 100kcal of energy.
Iodine supplements at higher levels may offer some protection from the toxic effects of perchlorate.
But the CDC scientists estimated that those brands that contain only
the minimum iodine concentration of 5 micrograms would leave infants
iodine-deficient and thus more vulnerable to the toxic effects of
perchlorate. A scenario in which formula contained 40 micrograms of
iodine (per 100kcal of energy) would offer more protection for infants,
but the scientists stressed that even adequate iodine intake among
formula-fed infants is not guaranteed to prevent "perchlorate-induced
thyroid dysfunction."
These findings underscore the need for the EPA to scrap Bush era
perchlorate policies that shielded defense contractors and other big
polluters from the costs of cleaning up perchlorate-contaminated water
by setting a legally enforceable safe drinking water level that
protects pregnant women, infants and others who are most vulnerable to
the effects of this harmful chemical.
Last fall, EPA officials declared that perchlorate in drinking water
posed no threat to most Americans and did not need to be regulated as a
water pollutant. EPA's decision was widely viewed as a major victory
for the Pentagon and the defense and aerospace industries unwilling to
mount a nationwide perchlorate cleanup estimated to cost hundreds of
millions of dollars.
In response to criticisms from scientists, health professionals and
consumer advocates, on January 8, EPA issued a non-binding "health
advisory" on perchlorate and asked the National Academy of Sciences to
review the issue.
EWG dismissed EPA's action as "nothing more than an effort to dodge the
issue and buy time for the defense, aerospace and chemical industries."
Years of federal inaction have prompted some states to set their own
mandatory limits for perchlorate in drinking water: California, at 6
ppb and Massachusetts at 2 ppb. While recent scientific research has
shown these standards to be too weak to protect public health
adequately, they are far more stringent than EPA's action in January.
At her confirmation hearing, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson pledged
that she would act "immediately" to reduce perchlorate contamination in
drinking water.
Since then, EWG has called on Jackson to fulfill that promise, but so far the agency has not made public a plan of action.
The new CDC study provides some of the strongest evidence yet that a
legally enforceable safe drinking water level for perchlorate should be
a priority for the Obama administration.
The Environmental Working Group is a community 30 million strong, working to protect our environmental health by changing industry standards.
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'Shameful': Columbia Greenlights Police Crackdown on Anti-War Encampment
Even after dozens of students were arrested, hundreds "rushed to take the place of their classmates" and continued the protest.
Apr 18, 2024
The arrests of dozens of Columbia University and Barnard College students on Thursday "galvanized" other supporters of Palestinian rights on the campuses, as hundreds of students occupied the school's western lawn after New York City police filled at least two buses with protesters who had been detained for setting up an encampment.
"Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest," chanted hundreds of students as they marched around the area where organizers had set up a tent encampment early Wednesday morning.
Columbia President Minouche Shafik informed the campus community on Thursday that she had authorized the police to clear the encampment.
As it has been in the past, the school has become a center of anti-war protests—and crackdowns by school officials and the police—since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza in October.
Pro-Palestinian students and alumni have demanded that Columbia divest from companies that profit from Israel's apartheid policies in the occupied Palestinian territories and cancel its dual degree program with Tel Aviv University.
In response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations, Columbia in November suspended the campus chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine—an action that pushed the New York Civil Liberties Union and Palestine Legal to file a lawsuit on behalf of the students last month.
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On Thursday, Omar posted on social media two images of protesters at Columbia: one from the encampment this week, and one from 1968, when students protested the U.S. war in Vietnam.
New York City Council member Tiffany Cabán was among those who condemned the university's crackdown on the protests on Thursday.
"Suspending and arresting Columbia/Barnard student activists and disbanding student organizations—including Jewish students and organizations—doesn't combat antisemitism or increase safety," said Cabán. "All it does is punish and intimidate those who believe in human rights for Palestinians. Shameful."
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The Wednesday revelation came just two days after six young activists were arrested outside Vice President Kamala Harris' Los Angeles, California home to increase pressure on the Biden administration to make such a declaration, which would unlock various federal powers to combat the fossil fuel-driven global crisis.
According to Bloomberg:
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"The incidents under review mostly took place in the West Bank and occurred before Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel," which was the catalyst for the current Israeli escalation in Gaza, reported ProPublica's Brett Murphy. "They include reports of extrajudicial killings by the Israeli Border Police; an incident in which a battalion gagged, handcuffed, and left an elderly Palestinian American man for dead; and an allegation that interrogators tortured and raped a teenager who had been accused of throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails."
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@StateDept In 2023, we documented Israel counter-terrorism YAMAM unit\u2019s abuses, including two extrajudicial killings & two indiscriminate and reckless killings, including of a child in Jenin in March 2023, constituting gross violations of human rights under Leahy Law & war crimes under Rome\u2026— (@)
The Council on American-Islamic Relations' Robert S. McCaw said in a statement that "despite these internal report State Department reports detailing egregious human rights abuses by the Israeli government, including allegations of rape and torturing children in the West Bank, Secretary Blinken has ignored his own staff and continued to greenlight weapon shipments to the responsible Israeli military and police units."
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Human rights attorney Qasim Rashid pointed out that in contrast with how the Biden administration has treated Israel, the U.S. government pulled funding from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East—as Palestinians in Gaza starve to death—over the "mere allegation" that a small number of staff were involved with Hamas.
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