Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Thyroid hormones and thyroid disease in relation to perchlorate dose and residence near a superfund site

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 23, pages 399–408 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Perchlorate is a widely occurring contaminant, which can competitively inhibit iodide uptake and thus thyroid hormone production. The health effects of chronic low dose perchlorate exposure are largely unknown. In a community-based study, we compared thyroid function and disease in women with differing likelihoods of prior and current perchlorate exposure. Residential blocks were randomly selected from areas: (1) with potential perchlorate exposure via drinking water; (2) with potential exposure to environmental contaminants; and (3) neighboring but without such exposures. Eligibility included having lived in the area for ≥6 months and aged 20–50 years during 1988–1996 (during documented drinking water well contamination). We interviewed 814 women and collected blood samples (assayed for thyroid stimulating hormone and free thyroxine) from 431 interviewed women. Daily urine samples were assayed for perchlorate and iodide for 178 premenopausal women with blood samples. We performed multivariable regression analyses comparing thyroid function and disease by residential area and by urinary perchlorate dose adjusted for urinary iodide levels. Residential location and current perchlorate dose were not associated with thyroid function or disease. No persistent effect of perchlorate on thyroid function or disease was found several years after contaminated wells were capped.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

Article 19 May 2022

Layal Chaker, Salman Razvi, … Robin P. Peeters

Abbreviations

cm:

centimeters

fT4:

free thyroxine

kg:

kilograms

mIU/l:

milli-international units/liter

ng/dl:

nanograms/deciliter

NHANES:

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

T3:

triiodothyronine

TCE:

trichloroethylene

TSH:

thyroid stimulating hormone

References

  1. Mendiratta SK, Dotson RL, Brooker RT . Perchloric acid and perchlorates. In: Kroschwitz JI, Howe-Grant M, (eds). Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: New York, 1996 pp 157–170.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Clewell RA, Merrill EA, Narayanan L, Gearhart JM, Robinson PJ . Evidence for competitive inhibition of iodide uptake by perchlorate and translocation of perchlorate into the thyroid. Int J Toxicol 2004; 23: 17–23.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Greer MA, Goodman G, Pleus RC, Greer SE . Health effects assessment for environmental perchlorate contamination: the dose response for inhibition of thyroidal radioiodine uptake in humans. Environ Health Perspect 2002; 110: 927–937.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Wolff J . Perchlorate and the thyroid gland. Pharmacol Rev 1998; 50: 89–105.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Lawrence JE, Lamm SH, Pino S, Richman K, Braverman LE . The effect of short-term low-dose perchlorate on various aspects of thyroid function. Thyroid 2000; 10: 659–663.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Stanbury JB, Wyngaarden JB . Effect of perchlorate on the human thyroid gland. Metab 1952; 1: 533.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Braverman LE, He X, Pino S, Cross M, Magnani B, Lamm SH et al The effect of perchlorate, thiocyanate, and nitrate on thyroid function in workers exposed to perchlorate long-term. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2005; 90: 700–706.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Lamm SH, Braverman LE, Li FX, Richman K, Pino S, Howearth G . Thyroid health status of ammonium perchlorate workers: a cross-sectional occupational health study. J Occup Environ Med 1999; 41: 248–260.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Braverman LE, Pearce EN, He X, Pino S, Seeley M, Beck B et al Effects of six months of daily low-dose perchlorate exposure on thyroid function in healthy volunteers. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2006; 91: 2721–2724.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Blount BC, Valentin-Blasini L, Osterloh JD, Mauldin JP, Pirkle JL . Perchlorate exposure of the US population, 2001–2002. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2007; 17: 400–407.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Tellez RT, Chacon PM, Abarca CR, Blount BC, Landingham CB, Crump KS et al Long-term environmental exposure to perchlorate through drinking water and thyroid function during pregnancy and the neonatal period. Thyroid 2005; 15: 963–975.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. National Research Council. Health Implications of Perchlorate Ingestion. National Academy Press: Washington, DC, 2005.

  13. Blount BC, Pirkle JL, Osterloh JD, Valentin-Blasini L, Caldwell KL . Urinary perchlorate and thyroid hormone levels in adolescent and adult men and women living in the United States. Environ Health Perspec 2006; 114: 1865–1871.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. California Department of Health Services, Environmental Health Investigations Branch. Health Consultation: perchlorate contamination in the Arden-Cordova water service area. Prepared for the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 29 September 1997.

  15. California Department of Health Services. Health Consultation: perchlorate contamination in the Sunrise District of the Sacramento county water service. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, September 1997.

  16. US Department of Health and Human Services. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: preliminary health assessment, Aerojet General Corporation December 1988 ( http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/pha/PHA.asp?docid=7&pg=1 ).

  17. US Department of Health and Human Services. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Health Consultation for Aerojet-General Corporation, 21 February 1997, p 1 ( http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/pha/PHA.asp?docid=5&pg=2 ).

  18. Valentin-Blasini L, Mauldin JP, Maple D, Blount BC . Analysis of perchlorate in human urine using ion chromatography and electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. Anal Chem 2005; 77: 2475–2481.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Caudill SP, Schleicher RL, Pirkle JL . Multi-rule quality control for the age-related eye disease study. Stat Med 2008; 27: 4094–4106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Cockcroft DW, Gault MH . Prediction of creatinine clearance from serum creatinine. Nephron 1976; 16: 31–41.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Mage DT, Allen RH, Gondy G, Smith W, Barr DB, Needham LL . Estimating pesticide dose from urinary pesticide concentration data by creatinine correction in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES-III). J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol 2004; 14: 457–465.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics: vital and health statistics, plan and operation of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–1994. DHHS Publication No. (PHS) 94-1308. US. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1994.

  23. Coghlin J, Hammond SK, Gann PH . Development of epidemiologic tools for measuring environmental tobacco smoke exposure. Am J Epidemiol 1989; 130: 696–704.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Ferris BG . Epidemiology Standardization Project (American Thoracic Society). Am Rev Respir Dis 1978; 118: 1–120.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Baecke JA, Burema J, Frijters JE . A short questionnaire for the measurement of habitual physical activity in epidemiological studies. Amer J Clin Nutr 1982; 36: 936–942.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Sternfeld B, Ainsworth BE, Quesenberry CP . Physical activity patterns in a diverse population of women. Prev Med 1999; 28: 313–323.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Maldonado G, Greenland S . Simulation study of confounder-selection strategies. Am J Epidemiol 1993; 138: 923–936.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Mickey RM, Greenland S . The impact of confounder selection criteria on effect estimation. Am J Epidemiol 1989; 129: 125–137.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Diamanti-Kandarakis E, Gourguignon J-P, Giudice LC, Hauser R, Prins GS, Soto AM et al Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: an endocrine society scientific statement. Endo Rev 2009; 30: 293–342.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Carrasco N . Thyroid iodide transport: the Na+/I- symporter (NIS). In: Braverman LE, Utiger RD, (eds). Werner and Ingbar’s The Thyroid: A Fundamental and Clinical Text, 8th edn. Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins: Philadelphia, 2000 pp 52–61.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Carrasco N . Iodide transport in the thyroid gland. Biochem Biophys Acta 1993; 1154: 65–82.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Murray CW, Egan SK, Kim H, Beru N, Bolger PM . US Food and Drug Administration’s Total Diet Study: dietary intake of perchlorate and iodine. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2008; 18: 571–580.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Wyngaarden JB, Wright BM, Ways P . The effect of certain anions upon the accumulation and retention of iodide by the thyroid gland. Endocrinol 1952; 50: 537–549.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Crump KS, Gibbs JP . Benchmark calculations for perchlorate from three human cohorts. Environ Health Persp 2005; 113: 1001–1008.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Gibbs JP, Ahmad R, Crump KS, Houck DP, Leveille TS, Findley JE et al Evaluation of a population with occupational exposure to airborne ammonium perhclorate for possible acute or chronic effects on thyroid function. J Occup Environ Med 1998; 40: 1072–1082.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Li FX, Squartsoff L, Lamm SH . Prevalence of thyroid diseases in Nevada counties with respect to perchlorate in drinking water. J Occup Environ Med 2001; 43: 630–634.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Steinmaus C, Miller MD, Howd R . Impact of smoking and thiocyanate on perchlorate and thyroid hormone associations in the 2001–2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Environ Health Perspect 2007; 115: 1333–1338.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Garduño-Garcia Jde J, Alvirde-Garcia U, López-Carrasco G, Padilla Mendoza ME, Mehta R, Arellano-Campos O et al TSH and free thyroxine concentrations are associated with differing metabolic markers in euthyroid subjects. Eur J Endocrinol 2010; 163: 273–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Goldner WS, Sandler DP, Yu F, Hoppin JA, Kamel F, Levan TD . Pesticide use and thyroid disease among women in the Agricultural Health Study. Am J Epidemiol 2010; 171: 455–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This project was supported by Grant Numbers P42ES004699 and 5P30ES005707 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and contract 200-2007-M-19584 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institutes of Health or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Ellen B Gold, Marianne O'Neill Rasor & Kyoungmi Kim

  2. Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Benjamin C Blount & Udeni Alwis

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Jennifer S Lee

  4. Department of Population and Reproductive Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Anup Srivastav

Authors
  1. Ellen B Gold
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Benjamin C Blount
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marianne O'Neill Rasor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jennifer S Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Udeni Alwis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Anup Srivastav
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Kyoungmi Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ellen B Gold.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gold, E., Blount, B., O'Neill Rasor, M. et al. Thyroid hormones and thyroid disease in relation to perchlorate dose and residence near a superfund site. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 23, 399–408 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2012.90

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2012.90

Keywords

Search

Advanced search

Quick links