[CPEO-MEF] Perhclorate "linked to children's low IQs"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Water contaminant linked to children's low IQs

By Brian Bienkowski


Environmental Health News
September 30, 2014

Babies born to mothers with high levels of perchlorate during their  
first trimester are more likely to have lower IQs later in life,  
according to a new study.

The research is the first to link pregnant women's perchlorate levels  
to their babies’ brain development. It adds to evidence that the  
drinking water contaminant may disrupt thyroid hormones, which are  
crucial for proper brain growth.

Perchlorate, which is both naturally occurring and manmade, is used  
in rocket fuel, fireworks and fertilizers. It has been found in 4  
percent of U.S. public water systems serving an estimated 5 to 17  
million people, largely near military bases and defense contractors  
in the U.S. West, particularly around Las Vegas and in Southern  
California.

"We would not recommend action on perchlorate levels from this study  
alone, although our report highlights a pressing need for larger  
studies of perchlorate levels from the general pregnant population  
and those with undetected hypothyroidism," the authors from the  
United Kingdom, Italy and Boston wrote in the study published in The  
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2014/sep/perchlorate- 
water

--

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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