title: Ammonium perchlorate contamination of Colorado River drinking water is associated with abnormal thyroid function in newborns in Arizona.
abstract: The Colorado River below Lake Mead, which supplies drinking water for approximately 20,000,000 people, is contaminated by ammonium perchlorate. We identified populations who were exposed and unexposed to perchlorate-contaminated drinking water and compared median newborn thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels after adjusting for age in days at measurement and for race/ethnicity. Median newborn TSH levels in a city whose drinking water supply was 100% perchlorate-contaminated water from the Colorado River below Lake Mead were significantly higher than those in a city totally supplied with non-perchlorate-contaminated drinking water, even after adjusting for factors known or suspected to elevate newborn TSH levels. This ecological study demonstrates a statistically significant association between perchlorate exposure and newborn TSH levels. It suggests that even low-level perchlorate contamination of drinking water may be associated with adverse health effects in neonates and highlights the need for both further study and control of human low-level perchlorate exposure.
authors.affiliation: Office of Epidemiology and Statistics, Arizona Department of Health Services, Phoenix, USA. rbrechn@hs.state.az.us
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Brechner
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Parkhurst
authors.forename: W O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Humble
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Herman
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001130:Arizona / Q000453:epidemiology; D003120:Colorado; D004326:Drinking; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010472:Perchlorates / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D010472:Perchlorates; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D013972:Thyrotropin; C053506:ammonium perchlorate