Exponent conducted analyses that evaluated newborn thyroid function by examining primary congenital hypothyroidism occurrence and patterns of high TSH concentrations in a Southern California community and among all newborns in California for the year 1998 where perchlorate was tested in drinking water supplies. The study objectives were to evaluate whether there was epidemiologic evidence of higher rates of primary congenital hypothyroidism or high TSH concentrations in the California communities of Redlands and Mentone and other California communities where perchlorate has been detected. Newborn screening data were obtained from the California Genetics Disease Branch program, which included data on over 300,000 newborns. This work was done in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley. Findings from this research were published in
Environmental Health Perspectives (2006) and
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health (2003).