[CPEO-MEF] PERCHLORATE: "Natural Perchlorate Levels in a Desert Ecosystem"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

News Release
U.S. Geological Survey
April 3, 2014

Natural Perchlorate Levels in a Desert Ecosystem

CARSON CITY, Nev. - Newly published research is the first to  
characterize the distribution and interactions of natural perchlorate  
in a terrestrial ecosystem. The study results are important in  
assessing risks associated with ecological and human health and with  
potential movement of natural perchlorate contamination into  
groundwater.

The U.S. Geological Survey and Texas Tech University study quantified  
natural levels of perchlorate in desert soil, plants, and atmospheric  
materials, and identified what controls its natural cycling and  
accumulation. Perchlorate, a chemical found in rocket fuel and  
fertilizers, is a compound that also occurs naturally. These new  
findings quantify natural perchlorate background levels and improve  
understanding of soil-plant-atmosphere processes that will, in turn,  
aid the identification, interpretation, and treatment of sites  
contaminated by human uses of perchlorate.

Perchlorate (a molecule with four atoms of oxygen for every chlorine  
atom: ClO4−) has emerged as an environmental contaminant in drinking  
water and food. Medical research has shown that its ingestion can  
disrupt human thyroid function, and the greatest risk may be to  
fetuses and infants because of the role of thyroid hormones in early  
growth and brain development. Perchlorate contamination near former  
military and industrial sites has been well documented, but natural  
background levels are poorly understood.

...

For the entire release, see
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article_pf.asp?ID=3859

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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