Santa Clara County health officials hope a new test to check for
perchlorate exposure will be used in South County.
Santa Clara County health officials hope a new test to check for perchlorate exposure will be used in South County.
Developed by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, the new urine test would replace the more complex blood test now used to determine a person’s exposure to the sodium-based contaminant.
Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, health officer for Santa Clara County, said Thursday that urine testing is effective because humans pass perchlorate hours after ingesting it. He said the test needs to be refined, but will eventually be a way to measure various sources of perchlorate. For instance, if a person drinking bottled water tests positive for perchlorate, it can be assumed he is ingesting it through diet or perhaps some other way.
“We still have to figure out what the numbers mean,” Fenstersheib said, but as they learn more about the test and how individuals excrete perchlorate, but I think the numbers will have more value.”
The CDC has conducted trials with the new test, but is not yet willing to comment on them. County health education specialist Janie Burkhart said it will be some time before either the state department of Health Services or the CDC uses the test in San Martin, but that residents should eventually have access to it.
“The wheels turn slowly, but they are turning, but they’re turning,” Burkhart said. “It’s probable that an exposure assessment will be done in Santa Clara County.”
The perchlorate contamination in San Martin and Morgan Hill has been linked to a former road-flare factory in Morgan Hill owned by Olin Corp. A sodium compound, perchlorate inhibits the thyroid gland’s ability to produce hormones by interfering with iodide uptake and has been shown to hamper brain development in baby rats.
Matt King covers Santa Clara County for The Times. He can be reached at 847-7240 or mking @gilroydispatch.com.
