United States: A chemical called perchlorate, which is used in making of things like rocket fuel and firework which has been found in many foods, including those that are popular with babies and children. This was previously discovered by the Consumer Reports, an organization that basically tests products to make sure they are safe.
As reported by CBS News, perchlorate was veritably first linked as a adulterant in food and water numerous times agone. Back in 2003, another group set up perchlorate in nearly 20 of lettuce samples from supermarkets. Perchlorate is dangerous because it can cause brain damage in future babies and infants, and it can also beget thyroid problems in grown-ups.
Consumer Reports tested 196 food samples from 63 grocery stores and 10 fast- food products. They set up that 67 of these foods had measurable situations of perchlorate. The situations ranged from just over two corridors per billion(ppb) to 79 ppb.
Foods for Kids at High Risk
The most concerning part of the study was that foods often eaten by children had the highest levels of perchlorate, averaging 19.4 ppb. Fresh fruits, juices and vegetables, as well as the fast food, also had high levels of this chemical.
The study also found that the type of packaging might play a role in the levels of perchlorate found in foods. Foods in plastic containers had the highest levels, averaging nearly 55 ppb, followed by foods in plastic wrap and paperboard.
Why Is This Important?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set a reference dose for perchlorate, meaning the amount of perchlorate that is considered safe to consume each day. This amount is 0.7 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day. In Europe, the amount considered safe is even lower. None of the foods tested or checked by Consumer Reports had perchlorate levels that were above these daily limits.
However, Consumer Reports pointed out that we all eat more than just one serving of food each day. This means that children, who weigh less than adults, might be at a higher risk because they could eat enough food to consume more than the safe amount of perchlorate in a day.
For example, for a child between one and two years old, eating just one serving of boxed mac and cheese could provide nearly 50% of the safe daily limit set by European guidelines. Eating a serving of baby rice cereal, baby multigrain cereal, or organic yogurt would each hit about a quarter of that limit. Even a serving of cucumbers, baby carrots, or collard greens could exceed 50% of the daily limit for perchlorate for kids in this age group.
How to Keep Kids Safe
To help keeping children safe from this, it’s veritably important to feed them different types of healthy foods and stay around them while they’re eating commodity which keeps an eye on them. This way, they get the nutrients they need while minimizing the dangerous goods of pollutants like perchlorate.
James Rogers, the director of product safety at Consumer Reports, advises parents to give their children with a balanced diet.
The association or association also noted that it is n’t entirely clear why some foods have advanced situations of perchlorate than others. It might be because of the type of packaging or because the fresh yield was doused with polluted water
Most of the perchlorate contamination in water comes from factories that make or dispose of propellants, explosives, and fireworks. It can also come from accidental releases during rocket launches, according to the National Institutes of Health’s Agency for the Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.