Massachusetts Community Water Watch chapters, including Tufts', are informing the public that perchlorate, an ingredient in propellant fuels, has been found in the drinking water of eight Massachusetts communities.
"Perchlorate hinders iodide uptake by the thyroid gland," said Zach Harlow-Nash, Tufts' Water Watch organizer. "Studies have shown that higher levels of perchlorate can affect the general population by causing symptoms similar to hyperthyroidism and thyroid tumors."
Perchlorate is a salt used in rocket fuel, explosives, fireworks and various other industrial processes.
In lower concentrations, perchlorate can impact the fetus, and has been linked to developmental problems in children including lowered IQ, growth problems and attention deficit disorder, Harlow-Nash said.
Though perchlorate has not been found in water at Tufts or in its surrounding communities, Tufts' Water Watch is working in concert with other chapters to educate the public about it.
"As members of Water Watch, we are trying to spread the word and get facts out to students so they can make their own opinions and take their own actions about this issue," senior Megan Chaisson said.
The perchlorate issue is particularly timely because Massachusetts legislators are working to establish a standard for how much perchlorate is acceptable in drinking water.
The United States' Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not have a fixed standard for perchlorate levels, but will set one based on a pending study by the National Academy of Sciences.
According to The Boston Globe, the EPA recommends that perchlorate levels not exceed 1 parts per billion (ppb) - about the equivalent of a half-teaspoon in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Even such a small amount can affect perchlorate-sensitive individuals, such as pregnant women, children under 12, and individuals with thyroid problems.
The Department of Defense has lobbied against the 1 ppb regulation, which would translate into higher cleanup costs, since perchlorate contamination is often associated with military uses.
Massachusetts is currently working to clean up perchlorate at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, which is a hazardous waste site that drains into the Cape Cod watershed. The Pentagon has agreed to finance cleaning the site to whatever standards Massachusetts eventually establishes.
Some states have set perchlorate standards well above the 1 ppb level - in California, 6 ppb of perchlorate are acceptable, though the substance has been found in the state's lettuce and milk.
Other sources say that healthy adults can withstand 18 ppb of perchlorate without experiencing negative health effects.
Massachusetts Community Water Watch is a network of student chapters at campuses across the state. The chapters work with their communities to improve the water quality of local watersheds.
--Kat Schmidt contributed to this article.
