Is the Military Defending the U.S. by Poisoning Children?

Posted by Lucinda Marshall, Feminist Peace Network at 7:06 AM on January 23, 2008.

Last year when writing about perchlorate (a toxic rocket fuel used by the military) on this blog I wrote these words,

"Call me naive, but I guess I'm never going to understand how poisoning one's own citizens is a strategically sound way of defending one's country..."

But a recent study conducted by the FDA makes it clear that those words are truly inadequate,

"A recent study by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that three quarters of 285 commonly consumed foods and beverages are contaminated with perchlorate, a toxic rocket fuel ingredient. According to the study, every day, the average two-year-old is exposed to more than half of the EPA 'safe' dose (RfD) of perchlorate from food alone. This is bad news for children in communities in 28 states who also are exposed to perchlorate through contaminated tap water. Very low levels of perchlorate in tap water will cause the average two year old to exceed EPA's safe exposure level.

Two-year-olds are particularly vulnerable because they eat and drink substantial amounts of food and water relative to their small size. An Environmental Working Group analysis of FDA data found that perchlorate levels as low as 4 parts per billion (ppb) in tap water could expose the average two-year-old to an unsafe dose of the rocket fuel contaminant every single day."

The damage perchlorate wreaks on the bodies of young children can only be described as a national public health crisis,

"Not only do children have higher exposures to perchlorate when compared with adults, they are also particularly susceptible to its adverse effects. Perchlorate acts by inhibiting the thyroid gland from taking up iodine from the circulation. Since iodine is the building block for thyroid hormone, perchlorate exposure can result in decreased thyroid hormone production by the thyroid gland. Adequate circulating levels of thyroid hormones are critical to maintaining normal growth and brain development during childhood."

So let me see if I can rephrase last year's words:

It is completely unacceptable that the U.S. military knowingly and wantonly is poisoning our land and our water and putting at risk the lives of of the very people it is supposedly defending, most particularly this nation's youngest citizens. The use of perchlorate for any reason must stop immediately and all necessary steps must be taken to clean up this toxic chemical.

Tagged as: children, toxins, us military, percholate

Lucinda Marshall is a feminist artist, writer and activist. She is the Founder of the Feminist Peace Network. Her work has been published in numerous publications in the U.S. and abroad including, Counterpunch, AlterNet, Dissident Voice, Off Our Backs, the Progressive, Countercurrents, Z Magazine, Common Dreams, In These Times and Information Clearinghouse. She also blogs at WIMN Online and writes a monthly column for the Louisville Eccentric Observer.