Chemistry Talk

Kyle Schwitters · Guest

That's correct.

Your White House war criminal's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) --
the pharmaceutical industry's favorite fun bunch -- the jolly folks
who like to approve new drugs in advance, before they're shown to
cause heart attacks, cancer, and other scary afflictions, the FDA
wants to assure America that THIS TIME THEY GOT IT RIGHT!

But just in case the FDA might be a teensie bit off, the staff advises
people to keep their rabbit's feet handy.

Makes me feel safer already!
----------------------------
"Perchlorate Levels in Food Safe for Most, FDA Says"

Bloomberg News
(The Washington Post)
Thursday, May 31, 2007; A11

Levels of a chemical used to make rocket fuel found in commonly
consumed food are not high enough to pose a health risk to most
people, including children and pregnant women, U.S. regulators said.

The Food and Drug Administration, in a preliminary estimate, measured
perchlorate levels in 27 food items, including fruits, vegetables,
fish and grain products. The agency found that, for most people's
diets, the levels fell below a standard adopted in 2005 by the
Environmental Protection Agency.

That standard, based on recommendations from the National Academy of
Sciences, deemed as acceptable the consumption of food and drinks
containing up to 0.7 micrograms per kilogram of body weight, more than
20 times the amount of perchlorate contamination in food found to be
safe under previous standards. The Natural Resources Defense Council,
a lobbying group, opposed the increase in the allowable level.

"I don't think the current standard is safe for vulnerable
populations," said Jennifer Sass, a staff scientist at the council.
The new FDA estimates show that some food items "come perilously close
to what EPA considers an unsafe level," she said.

Perchlorate has been found in 35 states, and more than 11 million
people have it in their drinking water at 4 parts per billion,
according to a 2005 report by the NAS, a presidential advisory board
for the sciences and a research institution. Perchlorate is found in
other things, such as milk and produce.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/30/AR2007053002548.html