Posted on 05/26/2005 9:40:01 AM PDT by WayneLusvardi
Study Suggests Perchlorate Made by Lightning! May Explain Why It's Found in Drinking Water
Also Generated in Elevated Water Storage Tanks from Static Electricity
"The lightning there is peculiar; it is so convincing, that when it strikes a thing it doesn't leave enough of that thing behind for you to tell whether--Well, you'd think it was something valuable, and a Congressman had been there. - "The Weather," Mark Twain's Speeches
A new study by the same academic researcher who reported finding perchlorate in human milk now suggests that perchlorate may be created by lightning. This would explain why perchlorate has been found in the Texas panhandle and elsewhere in the U.S. where there is no rocket fuel or munitions plant sites which typically have very high concentrations of perchlorate. Purnendu Dasgupta from Texas Tech University has found perchlorate in rain and snow and has created perchlorate by an electric discharge simulating lightning.
Dasgupta's study suggests that there is a natural flow of low levels of perchlorate from the atmosphere which could accumulate in soil in higher concentrations over time. As analytical methods improve, it is being reported that researchers are finding low-levels of perchlorate nearly everywhere, which suggests it is part of the natural background. The study is an attempt to explain the mystery of why vast areas of the Texas panhandle have perchlorate levels from 20 to 60 parts per billion or ppb in soil and water (for original study see(http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2003/oct/science/kc_perchlorate.html). Water wells in California are shut down if perchlorate reaches 6 ppb's.
Even more enlightening was that perchlorate was found to be formed naturally in the ground. In a test simulating desert sunlight conditions, perchlorate was produced when salt solutions were exposed to ozone and ultra-violet light. Thus, perchlorate formation may also have a photochemical basis.
The Texas Tech study generated from 64 to 113 parts per billion or ppb's of perchlorate through applying a 6.3 volt or greater electrical current over 338 hours to water in an elevated water storage tank (http://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/permitting/waterperm/pdw/0325summary.pdf). This suggests potential sources for perchlorate from lightning strikes on elevated water tanks and/or in-situ (i.e., internal) generation by electrochemical reaction from cathodic protection systems (e.g. static electricity).
Perchlorate is not a poison and does not cause cancer. Perchlorate is a negatively charged ion, an anion, consisting of one chloride molecule with four oxygen molecules (CI04). It is found in nature as a salt. It was historically used in ancient Chinese fireworks as a catalyst and is used in modern rocket fuels as an oxygentor. The main health concern is that perchlorate can interfere with absorption of iodine in the thyroid gland resulting in mental retardation of unborns and infants. Perchlorate is not regulated but the State of California has issued notices to shut down local water wells when levels of perchlorate reach 6 parts per billion or ppb; which ironically is the same level of perchlorate found in imported Colorado River water which is often used to replace the lost well water. The National Academy of Sciences has recently recommended a safe level of 23 ppb's, while a distinguished panel of scientists at U.C. Irvine has recommended 100 ppb's as safe. The National Academy of Sciences standard was based on a safety factor of 10, suggesting the real safety level may be 230 parts per billion.
California Congresswoman Barbara Boxer has championed the cause of perchlorate regulation by introducing two pieces of proposed legislation. The first would establish a federal standard for perchlorate contamination in drinking water supplies. Boxer has supported the E.P.A. initial standard of 1 part per billion of perchlorate in drinking water. The second bill would have established a "community's right to know" about the use of perchlorate by local industries. Boxer has requested studies of perchlorate in food, milk, and human milk.
That perchlorate may be manufactured by the weather is a new finding that may call into question the billions of dollars currently being spent to cleanup water wells and water basins mainly in Southern California. Reportedly, something like ninety percent of the contaminated wells have concentrations of perchlorate at 10 parts per billion or less. The newer research that is finding perchlorate almost is universal in the environment and possibly is created even in water storage tanks by electrochemical reaction will complicate any "right to know" legislation. The cart of the federal environmental regulation of perchlorate has been put before the horse of science. Now that science is catching up the regulatory safety standards for perchlorate may be due for an eventual correction. - The Pasadena Pundit
Just because you can find two parts per quadrillion of dimethyl chickenwire in something doesn't make it mean anything.
This is a hilarious kick in the pants for Boxer! :-)
The statement that perchlorate is being found nearly everywhere paraphrases a statement by Rebecca Renner of the American Chemical Society found at following link: Societyhttp://216.109.117.135/search/cache?p=atmospheric+processes+may+explain+perchlorate&tab=Web&ei=UTF-8&u=pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-a/39/i06/pdf/031505news.pdf&w=atmospheric+processes+may+explain+perchlorate&d=0198B80870&icp=1&.intl=us.
The point that infinitesimal parts of perchlorate are found in drinking water when it is generated in nature at that same level is problematic to say the least to continued perchlorate regulation and cleanups costing multiple billions of dollars. WL
Around here the perchlorate is found in water samples from wells adjacent to a onetime munitions manufacturer.
Halifax Explosives and later, Bermite Powder, both manufactured munitions, dynamite, and just about everything else that goes flash and bang. In those days residue was just dumped in a hole out yonder and all that stuff has just percolated through the soil until it reached the water table.
There are other areas however, where perchlorate contamination is widespread and unattributed to any particular source.
We do know that perchlorate turns up in breast milk and we know that it can cause irreversible problems. What we don't know is how much will it take to cause those problems in the unborn babies that the lovely young ladies in the neighborhood are carrying.
I suppose it's kind of like the problem of arsenic contamination in wells. I may decide it's not worth the hassle to deal with the arsenic in my well but I should at least have the knowledge of it's presence in my area and if I sell, the prospective buyer should know.
What is it you ask?
The bottled water industry...a gallon of their filtered water cost you more than a gallon of gasoline, yet few complain.
No doubt that "hotspots" with extremely high industrial concentrations of perchlorate should be addressed, but probably by cheaper containment methods than the current expensive pump and treat water treatment plants. Yes we now know that perchlorte shows up in human breast milk, but it is in water in the breast milk. Perchlorate reportedly does not accumulate in the human body and it is unproven that very low doses pose a significant health risk sufficient to warrant the hundreds of billions we are spending on it. In Chile nearly everyone has been exposed to perchlorate at similar levels to those in Southern California for decades with no measurably significant higher levels of mental retardation or learning deficits. WL
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