[CPEO-MEF] Massachusetts to "rethink perchlorate standard"

[lsiegel@cpeo.org]

State to rethink perchlorate standard

By AMANDA LEHMERT
Cape Cod Times (MA)
January 17, 2005

In the wake of an independent report that found humans could safely be
exposed to 20 times more perchlorate than currently recommended by
Massachusetts environmental regulators, the state plans to re-evaluate
its own health advisory standard.

Perchlorate, a chemical used in rocket fuel and explosives, has been
found in the aquifer under the Camp Edwards firing range on the Upper
Cape. Trace amounts have also been found in a few municipal and private
drinking water wells that draw from the aquifer in Bourne and Sandwich. 

High doses of the chemical can inhibit the uptake of iodide by the
thyroid gland, which regulates metabolism in adults and plays a key role
in fetal brain development. Perchlorate is thought to be particularly
harmful to growing children, pregnant women and people with thyroid
ailments. 

Beyond its impact on human health, the safety standard also determines
the level of cleanup that is required of those who contaminate water
supplies with perchlorate. The lower the safety standard, the higher the
cleanup costs.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/stateto17.htm

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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