Science Panel Issues Report on Exposure to Pollutant (perchlorate)

NY Times ^ | January 11, 2005 | FELICITY BARRINGER

[mewzilla]

Isn't perchlorate used in dry cleaning, too?

[mewzilla]

And if so, surely dry cleaners put out more of this stuff than the DOD?

[mewzilla]

Like folks from the NYT don't use dry cleaners.

[umgud]

Isn't perchlorate used in dry cleaning, too?

Perchloroethylene is a solvent used in dry cleaning. Perchlorates (usually inn solid form) are most often used in the reaction process for solid rocket motors.

[thulldud]

I made gunpowder once with potassium perchlorate.

Looks like they're just looking for something else to regulate, though.

[dr huer]

No. Halogenated hydrocarbons yes.

[neverdem]

Isn't perchlorate used in dry cleaning, too?

I believe that's trichloroethylene used just as a polar organic solvent. Perchlorate in the form of a salt is probably used as an oxidizing agent, IIRC.

Solid Rocket Fuel

[steplock]

The POS lawyer scumbags are trolling for the next deep-pocket to destroy ---- along with destroying another American icon and the reason for our greatness and superiority over the rest of the world ---- NASA and our space program!

The tyrannical judges with their minions in the congress are probably also itching for this new boonfall of money combined with another opportunity to trash our nation.

[mewzilla]

Well, FWIW, all the reports I've seen on contamination from dry cleaning solvents have used the term perchlorates. And the stuff used by dry cleaners can and has contaminated ground water. Which I daresay is a bigger problem than the one created by the stuff used in solid rocket motors for the DOD. If all that's true, then it makes me wonder why the NYT is busting on the DOD instead of dry cleaners.

[neverdem]

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.

[mewzilla]

Perchloroethylene is a solvent used in dry cleaning. Perchlorates (usually inn solid form) are most often used in the reaction process for solid rocket motors.

Thanks! Well, to put this in perspective, I daresay that the former is a bigger problem for the environment than the latter, quantity-wise, anyway?

[CedarDave]

The dry cleaning solvent is tetrachloroethene (C₂Cl₄) which is also known as PERC, perchlor and perchlorethylene. It is an halogenated organic solvent and is already regulated in drinking water at 5 micrograms per liter. As stated above, perchlorate (ClO₄^-) is a salt used in rocket fuel.

[Katya]

Just finished Crichton's book "State of Fear"....highly recommended reading for an antitode to media induced fear mongering.

[CedarDave]

In an earlier call with reporters, officials of the Natural Resources group said that the evidence considered by the panel had been unfairly weighted on the side of industry and the Defense Department, which, along with the White House had an undue influence on the process.

As is usually the case, any time some molecule is shown not to be overly dangerous to human health and the environment, the envirowackos and their scum lawyers scream that big corporations or industry has had "undue influence". This was the case with arsenic where the level was dropped five-fold two years ago causing immense increases in costs of treatment and cleanup. In some cases in the west, changes in the arsenic standard caused native drinking water which had been ingested safely for years to become "contaminated" and "unsafe" for use without expensive treatment. The change was controversial because the evidence of an adverse health effect was minimal or nonexistent. But the Bush administration gave in to the well orchestrated campaign by the enviowackos and the MSM, and EPA lowered the standard.

[BenLurkin]

Large doses of the chemical, in widespread use by the Defense Department since the 1950's, have been shown to inhibit the thyroid gland's ability to take up iodide . . .

How large is 'large'? Would I have to take a bite out of a solid rocket motor to get close?

[DaveTesla]

Perchlorate does not damage the thyroid gland. High levels of perchlorate, above 200 parts per billion (ppb), can temporarily affect the thyroid's ability to absorb iodide from the bloodstream, but this in itself is not an adverse effect (it happens naturally in every human as a result of diet and other factors). Perchlorate is not stored in any human tissues, including the thyroid gland.

[lizma]

why the NYT is busting on the DOD instead of dry cleaners.

Cuz it's Bush's DOD and I suspect the NYT elitist have a lot of "dry clean only" clothes.

It's not like these people actually care.

[farmfriend]

This is a big issue here around Aerojet.

Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.