Perchlorate a water issue, not an ag issue, says PMA
Perchlorate a water issue, not an ag issue, says PMA
NEWARK, DE " With the U.S. government and the agriculture industry grappling with the issue of acceptable perchlorate levels in agricultural products, the produce industry is keeping an eye on developments as they pertain to the products produced by the nation?s fruit and vegetable growers.
Recent research indicates that perchlorate, a chemical used primarily in the manufacture of fireworks and military munitions, is present in some water systems of at least 33 states. Samples of bottled water and lettuce were tested for perchlorate residues in research launched in December 2003 and finished last August by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition. According to the FDA, the second phase of this survey, which will collect and analyze 120 milk, 55 tomato, 45 carrot, 45 cantaloupe and 35 spinach samples, is underway.
Kathy Means, vice president of government relations for the Produce Marketing Association, here, said that the produce industry may need to deal with perchlorate for years to come because initially it was detected in small traces in lettuce coming from Arizona and New Jersey. She said the highly reputable National Academy of Sciences has determined acceptable residue levels of perchlorate in ground water, and those are above discoveries to date.
In January, the NAS indicated that a level of 24-25 parts per billion of perchlorate in drinking water is acceptable for vulnerable populations. This is an extrapolation of the NAS finding of 0.00007 milligrams per kilogram of body weight for consumer. That amount is more than 20 times the "reference dose? proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a recent draft risk assessment.
The NAS acceptable level recommendation "is a very protective number," which certainly protects the at-risk populations described on the FDA web site, Ms. Means said.
Ms. Means said that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has called for a clean up of the water system to remove perchlorate. Ms. Means acknowledged that perchlorate should perhaps be cleaned from the environment, but she sees that as a separate issue.
?We don?t need to clean up perchlorate because people will not get sick," said the PMA executive. "This is not a food-safety hazard. The key is to understand the science and acceptable levels, and no one panics. This is nothing anyone should worry about. The levels are not high enough to be a concern. We can rely on NAS findings and we need whatever standards are created to be based on that. Clean up would be an environmental [issue], not a food safety issue. This is not agriculture?s issue, it is a water issue."
Ms. Means said that perchlorate is present in natural fertilizer coming from Chile, but if any such fertilizer is used in the United States, it would certainly be of inadequate volumes to produce a presence in water.
Ms. Means indicated that "No one is advising consumers to change their eating habits based on perchlorate. Health experts, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, recommend that consumers eat a balanced diet, choosing a variety of foods rich in high-fiber grains, fruits and vegetables.
?Perchlorate is a water quality issue that must be addressed comprehensively by the U.S. government," she continued. "PMA supports scientific efforts, such as this report, to determine whether this is a public health issue, and if it is, to determine the extent of the problem, appropriate safety levels in food, and appropriate remediation efforts."
Ms. Means noted that perchlorate is a natural and man-made salt formed by adding oxygen molecules to chloride. Widespread perchlorate contamination in the United States was observed after the spring of 1997, when analytical methods were developed that allowed for quantitation down to four parts per billion. Since then, detection of the contaminant in soil, groundwater and drinking water wells has been confirmed in much of the United States, and sometimes the source for the presence of the compound is unknown.
Recent research indicates that perchlorate, a chemical used primarily in the manufacture of fireworks and military munitions, is present in some water systems of at least 33 states. Samples of bottled water and lettuce were tested for perchlorate residues in research launched in December 2003 and finished last August by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition. According to the FDA, the second phase of this survey, which will collect and analyze 120 milk, 55 tomato, 45 carrot, 45 cantaloupe and 35 spinach samples, is underway.
Kathy Means, vice president of government relations for the Produce Marketing Association, here, said that the produce industry may need to deal with perchlorate for years to come because initially it was detected in small traces in lettuce coming from Arizona and New Jersey. She said the highly reputable National Academy of Sciences has determined acceptable residue levels of perchlorate in ground water, and those are above discoveries to date.
In January, the NAS indicated that a level of 24-25 parts per billion of perchlorate in drinking water is acceptable for vulnerable populations. This is an extrapolation of the NAS finding of 0.00007 milligrams per kilogram of body weight for consumer. That amount is more than 20 times the "reference dose? proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a recent draft risk assessment.
The NAS acceptable level recommendation "is a very protective number," which certainly protects the at-risk populations described on the FDA web site, Ms. Means said.
Ms. Means said that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has called for a clean up of the water system to remove perchlorate. Ms. Means acknowledged that perchlorate should perhaps be cleaned from the environment, but she sees that as a separate issue.
?We don?t need to clean up perchlorate because people will not get sick," said the PMA executive. "This is not a food-safety hazard. The key is to understand the science and acceptable levels, and no one panics. This is nothing anyone should worry about. The levels are not high enough to be a concern. We can rely on NAS findings and we need whatever standards are created to be based on that. Clean up would be an environmental [issue], not a food safety issue. This is not agriculture?s issue, it is a water issue."
Ms. Means said that perchlorate is present in natural fertilizer coming from Chile, but if any such fertilizer is used in the United States, it would certainly be of inadequate volumes to produce a presence in water.
Ms. Means indicated that "No one is advising consumers to change their eating habits based on perchlorate. Health experts, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, recommend that consumers eat a balanced diet, choosing a variety of foods rich in high-fiber grains, fruits and vegetables.
?Perchlorate is a water quality issue that must be addressed comprehensively by the U.S. government," she continued. "PMA supports scientific efforts, such as this report, to determine whether this is a public health issue, and if it is, to determine the extent of the problem, appropriate safety levels in food, and appropriate remediation efforts."
Ms. Means noted that perchlorate is a natural and man-made salt formed by adding oxygen molecules to chloride. Widespread perchlorate contamination in the United States was observed after the spring of 1997, when analytical methods were developed that allowed for quantitation down to four parts per billion. Since then, detection of the contaminant in soil, groundwater and drinking water wells has been confirmed in much of the United States, and sometimes the source for the presence of the compound is unknown.
