(AmericanProsperity.com) – A chemical that’s used in rocket fuel and fireworks has just been found in multiple food products. In an investigation by Consumer Reports they discovered that this chemical is mostly found in food products for children and babies.
The tests come decades after the chemical was first identified as a contaminant in water and food. The Environmental Working Group found the chemical, perchlorate, in twenty percent of supermarket lettuce that they tested. The chemical is linked to potential brain damage in fetuses and in newborns as well as thyroid troubles in adults.
It was also found in sixty-seven percent of almost two hundred samples at grocery stores and at fast food restaurants. Food often consumed by children has the highest levels of the chemical. Fresh fruit, vegetables, and fast food contained elevated amounts as well.
The Environmental Protection Agency has set a reference dose of perchlorate of 0.7 micrograms per kilogram of body weight, and the European Food Safety Authority set a limit that was half that amount.
“We all eat more than a few servings of food per day, and children — due to their lower body weight — may be particularly at risk,” the Consumer Report said.
They continued, “For a child between one and two years old, a serving of the boxed mac and cheese we tested would hit nearly fifty percent of the EFSA limit, and servings of the baby rice cereal, baby multigrain cereal and organic yogurt we tested would each hit about a quarter of that limit.”
The organization didn’t specify why exactly the tests showed some products had higher levels than others, but in packaged goods they stated that anti-static plastic could be a part of the reason.
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