EPA listens to NAS on perchlorate standard
EPA listens to NAS on perchlorate standard
The Environmental Protection Agency has set a reference dose for perchlorate, a chemical that has been found in lettuce, milk and now in breast milk.
The new safe dose, which translates into 24.5 parts per billion in drinking water, is what the National Academy of Sciences recommended in January, a dramatic change from what the EPA had originally proposed.
The EPA issued a preliminary recommendation two years ago for an exposure level of one ppb, a level the Pentagon attacked as too restrictive. Some state authorities have been urging defense contractors to pay for the cleanup of the rocket-fuel chemical in drinking-water supplies, the same water that is used to irrigate crops.
?The [International Fresh-cut Produce Association] is pleased EPA has chosen to follow the NAS recommendations on safe dose levels of perchlorate from all sources," said IFPA President Jerry Welcome. "We support reasonable science-based decision-making on the issue of perchlorate and urge the states to follow the federal government?s lead when establishing safe levels of perchlorate in food and water."
But the day after EPA issued the federal safety dose, a new study reported finding the chemical in breast milk for the first time. Texas Tech University researchers found it in all 36 human breast-milk samples taken from 18 states and in all but one of 47 dairy milk samples from 11 states. The average level of perchlorate found in breast milk " 10 ppb " was five times higher than the average level found in the milk cartons bought from supermarkets. The two highest breast-milk findings " 92 ppb and 51 ppb " were reported in New Jersey, a state not known for perchlorate in its drinking water.
The breast milk study has raised questions about the new EPA dose level and whether a final, enforceable drinking-water standard will protect infants, who are at most risk from the chemical?s ability to disrupt thyroid hormones.
?The study is interesting and troublesome," said Renee Sharp of the Environmental Working Group. The group raised the issue of food as another source of perchlorate exposure after it found the chemical in store-bought lettuce.
She said that the Texas Tech study found no correlation between the breast milk samples and the women?s water supplies, either tap or bottled water. This implies that food is playing a role in the mother?s perchlorate levels. Fruits and vegetables could be one possible source as FDA has found perchlorate in a wide array of produce.
The new safe dose, which translates into 24.5 parts per billion in drinking water, is what the National Academy of Sciences recommended in January, a dramatic change from what the EPA had originally proposed.
The EPA issued a preliminary recommendation two years ago for an exposure level of one ppb, a level the Pentagon attacked as too restrictive. Some state authorities have been urging defense contractors to pay for the cleanup of the rocket-fuel chemical in drinking-water supplies, the same water that is used to irrigate crops.
?The [International Fresh-cut Produce Association] is pleased EPA has chosen to follow the NAS recommendations on safe dose levels of perchlorate from all sources," said IFPA President Jerry Welcome. "We support reasonable science-based decision-making on the issue of perchlorate and urge the states to follow the federal government?s lead when establishing safe levels of perchlorate in food and water."
But the day after EPA issued the federal safety dose, a new study reported finding the chemical in breast milk for the first time. Texas Tech University researchers found it in all 36 human breast-milk samples taken from 18 states and in all but one of 47 dairy milk samples from 11 states. The average level of perchlorate found in breast milk " 10 ppb " was five times higher than the average level found in the milk cartons bought from supermarkets. The two highest breast-milk findings " 92 ppb and 51 ppb " were reported in New Jersey, a state not known for perchlorate in its drinking water.
The breast milk study has raised questions about the new EPA dose level and whether a final, enforceable drinking-water standard will protect infants, who are at most risk from the chemical?s ability to disrupt thyroid hormones.
?The study is interesting and troublesome," said Renee Sharp of the Environmental Working Group. The group raised the issue of food as another source of perchlorate exposure after it found the chemical in store-bought lettuce.
She said that the Texas Tech study found no correlation between the breast milk samples and the women?s water supplies, either tap or bottled water. This implies that food is playing a role in the mother?s perchlorate levels. Fruits and vegetables could be one possible source as FDA has found perchlorate in a wide array of produce.
