Drink deep, or taste not the perchlorate stream

In a move that would shock anyone asleep for the past 7 years, the EPA won't limit rocket fuel in U.S. drinking water:

The Environmental Protection Agency has decided there's no need to rid drinking water of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that has fouled public water supplies around the country.

EPA reached the conclusion in a draft regulatory document not yet made public but reviewed Monday by The Associated Press.

The ingredient, perchlorate, has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at levels high enough to interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and fetuses, according to some scientists.

The EPA document says that mandating a clean-up level for perchlorate would not result in a "meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public-water systems."

It's noteworthy that perchlorate also shows up in cow milk, presumably having been picked up from contaminated water. I see no reason that the same would not be true of human milk.

But your government decided to gamble with your safety, and with the safety of nursing mothers and their babies.

If it's any consolation, voting starts in less than 43 days.