RE: Radioactive waste near New Mexico water supply not a health risk, officials say
The article refers to perchlorate as "organic:" "Unsafe concentrations of organic compounds ? such as perchlorate,..." Organic, in the chemical sense, which should apply here in a discussion of chemical compounds, means compounds containing carbon. This definition has been used by chemists ever since Woehler, around 1840, showed that chemical compounds that had been called "organic" because they were believed to require a life-force to be created, were carbon compounds, with no requirement for life-force for their creation. Thus, referring to perchlorates as organic is not consistent with modern chemistry. Maybe the author intended "inorganic" (meaning not organic), which would have been correct. The word "organic,," referring to food produced without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, does not seem to apply here either.
Taking out the reference to perchlorate in the above quotation, "Unsafe concentrations of organic compounds ..." is a statement that seems entirely likely. Organic compounds like benzene, toluene, acetone, and chlorinated organic compounds like carbon tetrachloride and tetrachloroethylene were used as solvents, and most likely some of these ended up in the buried waste.
