Perchlorate - public comments

More on perchlorate and the EPA. From the federal docket on perchlorate:

This is a Public Comment Regarding EPA’s refusal to regulate Perchlorate under the Safe Water Drinking Act (Docket ID EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0692):
Perchlorate is a chemical in rocket fuel that has been linked to thyroid problems in pregnant women, newborns and young children. Not regulating this harmful chemical in our drinking water is unacceptable.
Perchlorate is found in drinking water in 35 states, and according to the EPA’s own data, 16 million Americans are at risk of being exposed to this dangerous chemical. Maybe this explains why an increasing percent of newborns are being diagnosed with thyroid disorders.

Setting a standard for perchlorate will absolutely present ‘a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction.’ I urge you to do so in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and protect Americans’ health.

Perchlorate: regulatory determination

Go here for the just published docket from the EPA on perchlorate (rocket fuel byproduct in layman's terms) regulation. The comment period for pubic input ends Nov. 10. From the summary published Oct. 10:

This action presents EPA’s preliminary regulatory determination for perchlorate in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The Agency has determined that a national primary drinking water regulation (NPDWR) for perchlorate would not present ‘‘a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public water systems.’’ The SDWA requires EPA to make determinations every five years of whether to regulate at least five contaminants on the Contaminant Candidate List (CCL). EPA included perchlorate on the first and second CCLs that were published in the Federal Register on March 2, 1998 and February 24, 2005. Most recently, EPA presented final regulatory determinations regarding 11 contaminants on the second CCL in a notice published in the Federal Register on July 30, 2008. In today’s action, EPA presents supporting rationale and
requests public comment on its preliminary regulatory determination for perchlorate. EPA will make a final regulatory determination for perchlorate after considering comments and
information provided in the 30-day comment period following this notice. EPA plans to publish a health advisory for perchlorate at the time the Agency publishes its final regulatory determination to provide State and local public health officials with technical information that they may use in addressing local contamination.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 10, 2008.


TK: While the gist of the summary was to support EPA's position that a national drinking water regulation is not needed, it is interesting to see that EPA will make a public health advisory for perchlorate after analyzing comments. Also check out the Perchlorate Environmental Contamination: Toxicological Review and Risk Characterization (on the federal docket) which is a 534 page pdf that refers to irrigation water and lettuce several times.