Poison, From the Far Right? (Rocket Fuel...)

"Rocket Fuel, Found in Breast Milk..."

The Bush administration's lack of appropriate scientific safeguards, and
total lack of regard for a strong EPA, and environmental standards, are
starting to have concrete, demonstrable negative effects, on the health
of our nation.

One shouldn't misunderstand the following story: There's no need, here,
of course, to mention that a strong and visionary rocket, and space,
program, is ABSOLUTELY essential to the future benefit of ALL mankind.

(Astronomer Ken Croswell once had a great quote--which can be useful, I
think, when debating the merits of the costs of the space program, with
those who aren't convinced--

(When he wrote, "The chief reason our lives today are better than they
were in medieval times is because of advances in science, technology,
and medicine.=A0 And to quote Karl Schwarzschild, 'Mathematics, physics,
chemistry, and astronomy march in one front.=A0 Whichever lags behind is
drawn after.=A0 Whichever hastens ahead helps on the others.'=A0 The
point is that we should fund all the sciences, broadly rather than
narrowly, since we don't know which will deliver the breakthroughs.")

But as with any revolutionary technology, or involved industrial
process, the proper precautions, and oversight, must be maintained.

Jim Burns


Rocket Fuel Chemical Found in Breast Milk of Women in 18 States
By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Senior Writer
www.space.com
posted: 24 February 2005


A toxic component of rocket fuel has been found in breast milk of women
in 18 states and store-bought milk from various locations around the
country.

The chemical, perchlorate, can impede adult metabolism and cause
retardation in fetuses, among other things. It leaches into groundwater
from various military facilities.
Previous studies have found perchlorate in drinking water, on lettuce,
and in cows milk.

The new research, announced this week, suggests perchlorate is a bigger
problem than thought, scientists said.

Texas Tech University researchers studied 36 samples of breast milk from
women in 18 states and 47 samples cow's milk purchased from stores in 11
states. Every sample of breast milk contained perchlorate, as did all
but one sample of dairy milk.

The highest levels were found in women from New Jersey, New Mexico,
Missouri, Nebraska and California, in that order.

The results are detailed in the online version of Environmental Science
& Technology, a journal of the American Chemical Society. The work was
led by Texas Tech biochemist Purnendu Dasgupta.

"We've got to come to grips with the perchlorate situation quickly,''
said California Senator Dianne Feinstein in a statement. "And EPA has to
move quickly to set a national drinking water standard that protects the
health and safety of all Americans.''


Perchlorate occurs naturally and is also a primary ingredient in solid
rocket fuel, munitions and fireworks. Perchlorate does not build up in
human tissues over time, scientists say, but there has been speculation
it could accumulate in breast milk.

In excess, the chemical can interfere with iodide uptake in the thyroid
gland, disrupting adult metabolism and childhood development, scientists
say.

In fetuses, it can potentially cause mental retardation, loss of hearing
and speech, and motor skill deficits.

The average perchlorate concentration in breast milk samples was 10.5
micrograms per liter. The dairy milk average was 2.0 micrograms per
liter. No definitive national standard exists, although the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency had suggested a limit of 1.0 micrograms
per liter in drinking water.

The study also found that high levels of perchlorate in the breast milk
samples were indeed related to low levels of iodide. Low iodide levels
can inhibit thyroid function in nursing women. Scientists admit there is
limited data, but Dasgupta and colleagues said the levels found in the
study are "sufficiently low to be of concern."

They suggest that the recommended daily intake of iodine for pregnant
and nursing women may need to be revised upward.
The report should not raise undue alarm, said Ed Urbansky, a former
Environmental Protection Agency chemist who was not involved in the
latest study.

"It's very difficult to determine what the findings might be other than
to know it might be in so many milk samples,'' Urbansky said.


Perchlorate is in the drinking water of at least 11 million U.S.
residents, other research has shown. The chemical is present in the
Colorado river, which provides water to Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las
Vegas and is used to irrigate 70 percent of the nation's lettuce crops,
according to the Environmental Working Group, which studied the problem
in 2003 in cooperation with scientists at Texas Tech.

An overview study of perchlorate released in January by the National
Academies' National Research Council (NRC) tried to assess the risk, but
scientists continue to argue about how much of the chemical is too much.

Also in January, a study out of Russia claimed children near
Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome, where rockets are launched, are twice
as likely to require medical attention as other children in the region.


The Associated Press contributed to this story.


=A9 1999-2005 Imaginova Corp. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 27, 2005

Jim Burns wrote:

"Rocket Fuel, Found in Breast Milk..."

Which is why it is about time people WAKE UP
to what the government and military is doing to them.

It's high time we build a real rocket, we have SSMEs,
there is no reason we can go SSTO with SSMEs,
taking the cryogenic tank to orbit with a second stage,
taking those SSMEs back to the launch site ballistically.

But no, they kill SLI, call it OSP, then CEV, now it's
VSE - Visiting Space Expensively, nothing ever changes.

Thomas Lee Elifritz
http://elifritz.members.atlantic.net

Jim Burns wrote:

An overview study of perchlorate released in January by the National
Academies' National Research Council (NRC) tried to assess the risk, but
scientists continue to argue about how much of the chemical is too much.

There is no evidence that small traces of perchlorate have any effect
on human health. Your use of the word 'poison' is deplorable and dishonest.

Paul

(Jim Burns) wrote:

:
:"Rocket Fuel, Found in Breast Milk..."
:
:The Bush administration's lack of appropriate scientific safeguards, and
:total lack of regard for a strong EPA, and environmental standards, are
:starting to have concrete, demonstrable negative effects, on the health
f our nation.

The Bush Administration invented rocket fuel? Or perhaps milk? Or
breasts?

Just a few facts. Sorry to cloud the issue for you, Mr Burns:

1) There's no evidence of where this perchlorate is coming from.

2) There's no evidence that there is any difference in levels between
now and a decade ago or two decades ago.

3) There's no evidence that the levels detected are harmful.

I think that's enough for now.

--
"False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the
soul with evil."
-- Socrates

Yeah, and Reagan caused the Mt St. Helens blast through
allowing forest clear-cutting (I've seen that from loonies like you),
and Bush-1 allowed the Altai chemical pollution from Proton
launches by permitting commercialized launches, and now -- suddenly --
after possibly decades of exposure, some other environmental problem
is the fault of the Republican on whose watch it was 'discovered'...

You Bush-haters are so patently insane, it's laughable.

"Jim Burns" wrote
"Rocket Fuel, Found in Breast Milk..."
The Bush administration's lack of appropriate scientific safeguards, and
total lack of regard for a strong EPA, and environmental standards, are
starting to have concrete, demonstrable negative effects, on the health
of our nation.

Jim Oberg wrote:

You Bush-haters are so patently insane, it's laughable.

I didn't vote for Bush in either 2000 or 2004, and have been,
and continue to be, very unhappy with some of the things his
administration has done.

But, damnit, the arguments on the other side are getting so incredibly
lame that I'm getting pushed in his direction. I've found it's
useful to characterize a position by the quality of arguments
advanced in its defense (on the theory that the best arguments
tend to be the ones used). The Bush-bashers are not doing themselves
or their positions any favors whatsoever.

Paul

Fred J. McCall wrote:
The Bush Administration invented rocket fuel? Or perhaps milk? Or
breasts?

If so, wouldn't that make it the "Best. Administration.
Ever!"?

February 28, 2005

Jim Oberg wrote:

You Bush-haters are so patently insane, it's laughable.

We're not Bush haters Jim, we just think that
America has become a nation of complacent
ignorant, redneck, scientically illiterate
facsist pigs, oink oink. You are a great
example of that, putting on a bit of weight,
are you Jim? Eh, Jim?

http://www.nap.edu/openbook/0309095689/html/R1.html

We're secular humanisists :

http://www.secularhumanism.org/libra...britt_23_2.htm

Fascism in America?

I say yes.

Thomas Lee Elifritz
http://elifritz.members.atlantic.net

Thanks for proving my case, skinny!



wrote in message
oups.com...
February 28, 2005

Jim Oberg wrote:

You Bush-haters are so patently insane, it's laughable.

We're not Bush haters Jim, we just think that
America has become a nation of complacent
ignorant, redneck, scientically illiterate
facsist pigs, oink oink. You are a great
example of that, putting on a bit of weight,
are you Jim? Eh, Jim?

http://www.nap.edu/openbook/0309095689/html/R1.html

We're secular humanisists :

http://www.secularhumanism.org/libra...britt_23_2.htm

Fascism in America?

I say yes.

Thomas Lee Elifritz
http://elifritz.members.atlantic.net

We're secular humanisists

Secular humanists everywhere weep to know that you're in their camp,
****ing on the beds.