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29 December 2002 |
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Eating lettuce or other vegetables grown in fields irrigated by the Colorado River may expose consumers to a larger dose of toxic rocket fuel than is considered
safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to test data and documents obtained by Environmental Working Group (EWG). Test results never before made public show that leafy
vegetables grown with contaminated irrigation water take up, store and concentrate potentially harmful levels of perchlorate, a thyroid toxin that is the explosive main ingredient of rocket
and missile fuel.
Sworn depositions and other courtroom documents show that the giant aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin - a major user of perchlorate responsible
for widespread contamination of Southern California water supplies - knew as early as 1997 that vegetables stored high concentrations of the chemical, but said nothing to the EPA or state
health officials. Since most perchlorate-related work by defense contractors is done for the U.S. military, the Department of Defense may also have known, but said nothing to warn other
agencies, consumers - or farmers whose crops, through no fault of their own, may be tainted by contaminated irrigation water.
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