ARS | Publication request: Predicting Perchlorate Exposure in Milk from Concentrations in Dairy Feed

Submitted to: American Chemical Society Annual Meeting Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: July 22, 2005
Publication Date: September 1, 2005
Citation: Rice, C., Abbott, L.C., Hapeman, C.J., Baldwin, R.L., Capuco, A.V., Mccarty, G.W., Hare Jr, W.R. 2005. Predicting perchlorate exposure in milk from concentrations in dairy feed. [abstract].American Chemical Society Annual Meeting Symposium Proceedings. pp. 928-930.

Technical Abstract: Low levels of perchlorate have been discovered in some U.S. dairy milk supplies. Data were used from a 5-week-long perchlorate dosing experiment to derive an equation to describe the relationship between perchlorate concentrations in feed and appearance in milk. Using USDA Food and Nutrition Survey data and USDA Nutritional Information data, potential perchlorate exposures due to milk consumption were estimated for humans. The results provide the first quantitative relationship of how human exposure from milk is related to the concentrations of perchlorate in dairy food. The concentrations in the milk were found to be directly related to the levels in the feed. Another important discovery was that the efficiency of perchlorate transfer to the milk diminishes in a regular and predictable pattern as the concentration in the food increases. The study further emphasizes the need to better understand how perchlorate cycles through the environment and into dairy feed.