As human beings, there are essential items that we need to survive. Water, vitamins and minerals along with carbohydrates, proteins and fats are the six things that are necessary for life. Keeping each of those as pure as possible in our industrialized world has become a chore but one that we have entrusted to the government.
Agencies such as the FDA, NRC, USDA and the EPA were put in place so that we could live in a cleaner and safer world while we continue to scientifically and technologically advance. However, with the Bush Administration in charge for the last several years none of those have really performed the roles they were assigned and today's example of Bush's disdain for government regulation is particularly frightening.
From USA Today:
Yeah, perchlorate isn't the healthiest of things to consume. The effects are even scarier than the word lets on. The fact that the EPA knows the damage perchlorate can cause and then turns around to shrug their shoulders is horrifying and unconscionable. Yet in the context of the Bush Administration, it is simply part of the status quo.WASHINGTON (AP) — 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."
The conclusion, which caps years of dispute over the issue, was denounced by Democrats and environmentalists who accused EPA of caving to pressure from the Pentagon.
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