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As if parents don't already have enough to worry about, now U.S. officials have found yet another potentially dangerous ingredient in infant formula.
A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found traces of perchlorate, a rocket fuel ingredient, in samples of powdered infant formula. The chemical can damage the thyroid gland function and can interfere with healthy infant development.
The highest levels were found in formula derived from cow's milk -- by far the most widely used infant formula out there.
Scientists also found perchlorate in the drinking water of at least 35 states and the District of Columbia.
Researchers did not reveal which formula brands were tested.
The study did not go into how perchlorate exposure can affect a human's health. However, infants may be more exposed than adults because of their body weight and from the potential double exposure from combining powdered formula mix and tap water to make a bottle of formula, the study said.
All this comes just a few months after the chemical melamine was found in infant formula in the U.S. Melamine-tainted formula is blamed for making thousands of infants in ill, and for causing four infant deaths, in China.
And it appears exclusively breastfed infants aren't necessarily safe from exposure, either. Late last year, researchers from Texas Tech University announced they found perchlorate in most samples of breast milk. No doubt, moms are exposed to the chemical through the food and water they consume and can pass it through breast milk.
Comments
I just read this - sickening. However breastfeeding is still safer as we still, as mothers, have some control over what enters our bodies and our milk. The key is to try to eat organic if at all possible and be aware of what foods and substances can cause exposure. It won't be perfect but it is a lot better than risking the slew of chemicals they have found in formula as of late.
At higher doses perchlorate and iodide SHARE immunotoxic effects because they are chaotropic (see iododerma, bromoderma, bromism), so increasing the dose of iodide in the infant formula is not likely to be the solution. Chaotropic anions keep proteins from coagulating and water from freezing -- thus the liquid water on Mars stays liquid at very cold temperatures because it contains large amounts of perchlorate. I personally think industrial exposures to perchlorate keep important parts of the innate immune system (pentraxin 3, defensins) from coagulating with pathogens, and thereby increase the incidence of CD34+ tumors (thyroid, connective tissue) due to mutation-promoting viruses (e.g. high incidence of malignant nerve sheath tumors around the Whittaker Bermite rocket plant in Santa Clarita CA.) If pendrin is the primary means of excreting perchlorate through the urine, then premature infants and babies with diarrhea will retain perchlorate.
Perchlorate in drinking water, and perchlorate-rich items like opuntia cactus (nopales) and chew tobacco, need to be regulated.
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