MoreA report by the Government Accountability Office, released
Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010, does not make any recommendations, but does have some
interesting findings concerning the ubiquity of perchlorate in U.S. waters, the
levels it has been found at, and what various regulatory bodies have done about
it so far.
There is no federal regulatory standard for perchlorate in drinking water, and the EPA has not determined whether to establish one. However, states like Massachusetts and California have begun to control perchlorate, and the report takes a look at both of these states' policies. The report also looked at several government entities, who are required to take action when perchlorate is found over certain levels, and the travails they have faced.
Perchlorate has been found in water and other media at varying levels in 45 states, as well as in the food supply, and comes from a variety of sources. According to the GAO, the EPA conducted one nationwide perchlorate sampling, between 2001 and 2005, and detected perchlorate at or above 4 ppb in 160 of the 3,865 public water systems tested (about 4.1 percent). In 31 of these 160 systems, perchlorate was found above 15 ppb, the agency's current interim health advisory level.
According to researchers, the report said, concentrations of perchlorate at or above 100 parts per billion generally result from activities involving man-made perchlorate, such as the use of perchlorate as a rocket propellant. Lower concentrations can result from the use of man-made perchlorate, atmospheric processes, or the use of fertilizer containing naturally occurring perchlorate. Perchlorate is also a naturally forming substance.
Read the full report at www.gao.gov/new.items/d10769.pdf.
SOURCE: GAO website
There is no federal regulatory standard for perchlorate in drinking water, and the EPA has not determined whether to establish one. However, states like Massachusetts and California have begun to control perchlorate, and the report takes a look at both of these states' policies. The report also looked at several government entities, who are required to take action when perchlorate is found over certain levels, and the travails they have faced.
Perchlorate has been found in water and other media at varying levels in 45 states, as well as in the food supply, and comes from a variety of sources. According to the GAO, the EPA conducted one nationwide perchlorate sampling, between 2001 and 2005, and detected perchlorate at or above 4 ppb in 160 of the 3,865 public water systems tested (about 4.1 percent). In 31 of these 160 systems, perchlorate was found above 15 ppb, the agency's current interim health advisory level.
According to researchers, the report said, concentrations of perchlorate at or above 100 parts per billion generally result from activities involving man-made perchlorate, such as the use of perchlorate as a rocket propellant. Lower concentrations can result from the use of man-made perchlorate, atmospheric processes, or the use of fertilizer containing naturally occurring perchlorate. Perchlorate is also a naturally forming substance.
Read the full report at www.gao.gov/new.items/d10769.pdf.
SOURCE: GAO website
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