toxic america. the environmental protection agency will set a limit on a toxic chemical we ve been keeping an eye on that s call perchlorate, turning up in drinking water all over the country. it comes from rocket fuel. amazingly, all of the people tested for the chemical tested positive. 100% of people did. perchlorate is a chemical that disrupts the thyroid gland and is especially dangerous for developing babies and pregnant women. california and massachusetts already set limits on perchlorate. but the federal government says it will take two more years to set limits for the entire country. that got me to sit down exclusively with epa administrator lisa jackson and got a chance to ask her why, since there are more than two dozen studies shows this chemical is dangerous, why is the epa not moving faster? we owe it to the american people to ensure we go through the regulatory steps here. it s not just science. it s to make sure the standard
epa says it s going to start regulating a toxic rocket fuel component, as well as other toxic contaminants that are found in our drinking water. our dr. sanjay gupta interviews epa administrator lisa jackson before she testified on this issue to congress. he joins us now live from atlanta. good to see you, as always, kind sir. we hear this rocket fuel component is in our drinking water. we re not necessarily drinking straight out rocket fuel, however, right? no. this is quite a tale. you have various sites around the country and many associated with producing various components for rockets and fuel and things like that. what the people found they test the water in this area, water becomes drinking water and you find that this substance known as perchlorate was clshowing up
to move east. for those of you traveling by air, be prepared to wait at chicago s o hare airport more than 1800 flights canceled. airport is open, very little flying. boston s logan international airport has been shut down completely because of icing on the runways. big move today aimed at making our drinking water safer. the environmental protection agency sets a limit on the amount of perchlorate. it can affect infants and fetuses and also people s thyroid function. president obama and senator john mccain plan to sit down this afternoon for a one-on-one meeting. this came out after the president read mccain s op-ed following the tucson s sheeting. in it he praised the president s speech and went on to say even though he disagrees with some of
and how much of a threat is it and what is going to be done. a lot of people thought this idea would never come, an idea that you are going to regulate perchlorate. it is a chemical found in areas where there is a lot of rocket fuel. you can get an idea of the things found in the study. 100% of people in the study were found to have levels of perchlorate in their body from drinking water and contaminated food. the concern is this, kyra, that it could have significant health affects. could affect thyroid glands pregnant women, cross the placenta and cause problems with fetal development. pregnant women and people with pre-existing thyroid problems were the most at risk yet despite all of that this was never regulated before. why not? how do you know if it s in your water? right. it is not tracked, no constant
but because it has an impact on iodine uptake that might affect your child down the road, and it is one of several places that might happen within the body. it is very complicated science. my answer to mothers out there is yes, the federal science moves slower than all of us would like but it s very, good science. when can we expect regulation to go into effect. she says within two years but some people will say, look, a year ago, no one was talking about this, it wasn t even on the table, never going to be regulated and other people are saying, the science has been done. we know the answers. it needs to be regulated now. states are doing it. it depends what side of the spectrum you are on. i asked her the question you asked me, and she says she thinks in the next two years 33 have a standard saying perchlorate can t be higher than this. can you and i test for this in our own home? can we test our own drinking