Environmental context. Depending on its severity, inadequate iodine nutrition can lead from minor developmental disorders all the way to cretinism. In recent years, the omnipresence of environmental perchlorate, a potent iodine transport inhibitor, has been much in the news but the ultimate issue of iodine nutrition has largely been ignored. There is little consciousness that even many developed nations are putting future generations in peril with vulnerable populations that are barely iodine sufficient, whether or not there is any excessive perchlorate intake.