Anne Woods: A Weekend for Superheroes
Rocket Fuel Found in Infant Formula
Filed under: Alerts & Recalls
If you've run out of reasons to feel guilty about choosing bottle over breast, here's one to get you back on track: Scientists have found traces of a chemical used in rocket fuel in powdered baby formula. When mixed with water contaminated with the same chemical, the levels could exceed those that are considered safe for adult consumption.
At a time when women are feeling more and more pressure to breastfeed, studies like this seem like one more way to make those of us who choose bottle feeding feel bad about our decision. Congratulations, you might be poisoning the baby!
Don't get too upset just yet, though, and don't toss the formula; there's no clear evidence that the affected formula is dangerous for your baby. Although scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the chemical, perchlorate, in several brands of formula, there's no evidence that tainted baby formula has caused any health problems, although perchlorate has been linked to thyroid problems. This particular study, however, "wasn't a study of health effects," said Dr. Joshua Schier, one of the study's authors, which means simply that the scientists don't really know what the effects might be.
Hopefully, that study is coming. And soon. Because all this study seems to do is give us one more reason to question how we feed our kids, which is really unfortunate.
The dangerous levels of perchlorate occurred when contaminated formula was mixed with contaminated water. Perchlorate has been found in several cities' drinking water; it may be naturally occurring, but it's more likely that it came from defense and aerospace sites. Of the 4,000 sites the EPA tested, 131 had detectable levels of perchlorate and 31 had levels high enough to exceed EPA safety levels.
So how serious is this? There are two answers, really. The study found that a small sample of several unnamed brands of infant formula were contaminated with perchlorate; if you live in a community where the water is also contaminated, there might be cause for worry. But there's no hard and fast evidence, just yet, that perchlorate in infant formula is making kids sick.
At the same time, though, it's horrifying that infant formula contains even trace amounts of something that is used to make rockets go. That's inexcusable and unacceptable. There is no such thing as a "safe" level of rocket fuel for human consumption, particularly infant consumption. The choice of bottle instead of breast shouldn't ever be one that leaves parents worried about feeding the baby something toxic. Infant formula -- and the water it is mixed with -- should be free of potentially toxic chemicals.
Or at least free of rocket fuel.
At a time when women are feeling more and more pressure to breastfeed, studies like this seem like one more way to make those of us who choose bottle feeding feel bad about our decision. Congratulations, you might be poisoning the baby!
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Don't get too upset just yet, though, and don't toss the formula; there's no clear evidence that the affected formula is dangerous for your baby. Although scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the chemical, perchlorate, in several brands of formula, there's no evidence that tainted baby formula has caused any health problems, although perchlorate has been linked to thyroid problems. This particular study, however, "wasn't a study of health effects," said Dr. Joshua Schier, one of the study's authors, which means simply that the scientists don't really know what the effects might be.
Hopefully, that study is coming. And soon. Because all this study seems to do is give us one more reason to question how we feed our kids, which is really unfortunate.
The dangerous levels of perchlorate occurred when contaminated formula was mixed with contaminated water. Perchlorate has been found in several cities' drinking water; it may be naturally occurring, but it's more likely that it came from defense and aerospace sites. Of the 4,000 sites the EPA tested, 131 had detectable levels of perchlorate and 31 had levels high enough to exceed EPA safety levels.
So how serious is this? There are two answers, really. The study found that a small sample of several unnamed brands of infant formula were contaminated with perchlorate; if you live in a community where the water is also contaminated, there might be cause for worry. But there's no hard and fast evidence, just yet, that perchlorate in infant formula is making kids sick.
At the same time, though, it's horrifying that infant formula contains even trace amounts of something that is used to make rockets go. That's inexcusable and unacceptable. There is no such thing as a "safe" level of rocket fuel for human consumption, particularly infant consumption. The choice of bottle instead of breast shouldn't ever be one that leaves parents worried about feeding the baby something toxic. Infant formula -- and the water it is mixed with -- should be free of potentially toxic chemicals.
Or at least free of rocket fuel.
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ReaderComments (Page 2 of 2)
4-05-2009 @ 11:26PM
isisaquaria said...Originally the by line said Parent Dish Staff--thus the request for a name---
4-06-2009 @ 11:02AM
Joy said...Susan Wagner's name was not on this post when it was first posted. It said "Parentdish Staff." I re-looked MANY times because I thought it was one of the worst posts I'd ever read and believe me, I looked many times. It was after I made my first comment that a name "appeared" there.
4-05-2009 @ 9:57PM
Susan said...Not a very nice post. I was involved with La Leche League for almost five years and would help any woman to this day learn more about the benefits of breast-feeding. It is a shame that there is often hostility between moms who bottle-feed and moms breast-feed. The bottom line is that a child's well-being begins with love from his family, and this often begins with the close bond to his mother. All that a newborn knows is how it feels to be comfortable and loved. Moms have gifts that go far beyond feeding the baby.
Reply
4-06-2009 @ 4:43PM
Michelle said...Why in the world are the commenters attacking the original poster? She is doing the exact opposite of what you all claim - go re-read the post: "studies like this seem like one more way to make those of us who choose bottle feeding feel bad about our decision" . . . "there is no clear evidence that the affected formula is dangerous to your baby" . . ."All this study seems to do is give us one more reason to question how we feed our kids, which is really unfortunate" . . .
It sounds to me that this mom used formula herself and is critical of the study, using a bit of sarcasm to make her point.
Personally, I disagree with her premise - I think we need all the information we can get when it comes to feeding our children. I breastfed, but I still want to know if chemicals are found in breastmilk and what that means. Hiding this type of information and keeping people ignorant about what they feed their children would scare me a lot more.
Reply
4-10-2009 @ 1:31AM
Larry Ladd said...It's very important that the public understand that perchlorate does not just affect the thyroid, it affects the cd34 stem cells that form thyroid and connective tissue. See York et al 2005 pubmed id 16393938 and Jendelova et al 2005 pubmed id 15929552.
http://www.perchlorate.org
Reply
4-21-2009 @ 4:27PM
misty said...I found this website that gives Formula and Brand Name results
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/92/5/1673/T1