California rocket fuel standards too weak

California is years behind schedule in setting safety standards for rocket fuel waste in drinking water, and now there's evidence that the proposed standard is too weak to protect pregnant women and their unborn babies. A new study by the Centers for Disease Control found that drinking water with just 5 parts per billion of perchlorate could disrupt thyroid hormones in women of childbearing age, and for 1 in 10 the condition would be serious enough that they'd need treatment to protect their babies from IQ and developmental deficits. At California's proposed standard of 6 ppb, that means 272,000 women would need treatment. If the same standard was applied nationwide, more than 2.2 million women would be at increased risk.

Environmental Working Group analysis [ Link ]

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