Perchlorate group blasts California exposure regulations

06 April 2005 18:15  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (CNI)--A group of perchlorate producers and consumers is criticising California regulatory authorities for not following the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in setting a public health goal for exposure to the chemical in drinking water.

 

A year ago, the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) set 6 parts per billion (ppb) as the safe level of perchlorate in drinking water and said it would reevaluate the standard once NAS completed a review of available data on the chemical’s health affects.

After analysing the NAS findings, which were published in January, Cal/EPA said it concluded “new data are not sufficient to support a reopening of the public health goal at this time. Without additional information, this is still the most health-protective approach for infants.”

But James Strock of the Council on Water Quality said: “It’s unfortunate the Cal/EPA announcement of a public health goal of 6 ppb for perchlorate does not fully reflect the conclusions of an expert panel convened by the NAS.”

He added: “Most disappointing is that the state, in moving in a direction different from the NAS findings, has demonstrated no additional public health benefits.”

NAS recommended a reference dose of 0.0007 milligrams per kilogram of perchlorate per day, which the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) subsequently translated into a drinking water equivalent level of 24.5 ppb.

“A public health goal set below what NAS says is necessary may foster a mistaken public impression that perchlorate levels above the goal are unsafe,” Strock said.

Setting the public health goal is a preliminary step for developing a regulatory standard for drinking water, known as a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL).

“To the extent California’s public health goal is not based on the best available science, the resulting MCL could be unnecessarily restrictive and costly, forcing local governments to divert resources away from more pressing needs, while still not providing corresponding health benefits,” Strock said.

 

Members of the industry council include American Pacific, Kerr-McGee Chemical and Lockheed Martin.

 

Perchlorate has been used for decades by the national defense and space industries, mostly as a component of rocket fuel and explosives. It has been detected in drinking water around California, including in the Colorado River, which serves 15m customers.

 

Thousands of lawsuits have been filed that claim years of drinking water contaminated by perchlorate has caused cancers and other illnesses.

By: Glenn Hess
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