[CPEO-MEF] Feinstein questions EPA on perchlorate reference dose

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Senator Feinstein Raises Questions about EPA's Process to Establish 
Perchlorate Reference Dose

Press Release
Office of Senator Dianne Feinstein
June 8, 2005


Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today asked 
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson a series 
of questions about the process the agency used to establish the 
reference dose for perchlorate ingestion.

In January 2005, the National Academy of Sciences recommended a 
reference dose for perchlorate exposure (the amount that is believed to 
be safe to consume per individual at a given body weight per day). In 
February 2005, EPA issued a reference dose, without any comment from the 
general public or the scientific community.

Following is Senator Feinstein's letter to Administrator Johnson:

"I am writing you regarding the process that led the EPA to adopt the 
perchlorate reference dose (RfD) that was recommended by the National 
Academy of Science in the report on the 'Health Implications of 
Perchlorate Ingestion' released in January 2005.

Concerns have been raised in a recently published article in the journal 
Environmental Health Perspectives titled 'The NAS Perchlorate Review: 
Questions Remain about the Perchlorate RfD' and in an article by the 
RiversidePress-Enterprise regarding how the results of a perchlorate 
study on human subjects were interpreted and whether the uncertainties 
in the data from that study were appropriately treated. This study, 
known as the Greer study, became in part the basis for the RfD that the 
NAS ultimately recommended in their report.

In February 2005 the EPA announced that it was adopting the NAS 
recommended RfD. This value was adopted and placed on the EPA's 
Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database rather quickly with 
no further public review.

I am always delighted when a government agency moves quickly, however I 
have a few questions regarding how the process to establish the 
reference dose proceeded:

* How did the EPA come to the decision to endorse the NAS-derived RfD?

* How did the EPA determine that this level would protect public health 
with a reasonable margin of safety?

* Why did the EPA decide not to allow for public comment on this decision?

• Will the EPA be re-evaluating this reference dose in light of the 
concerns regarding the Greer perchlorate study?

As you may know, in California over 350 water sources have been 
contaminated by perchlorate. Perchlorate has been found in the drinking 
water sources of at least 34 states and it has been found in lettuce, 
dairy milk and even women's breast milk.

With such widespread contamination in my state and across the country, I 
have serious concerns over the health and well-being of the most 
vulnerable among the population - infants, toddlers, pregnant women and 
their unborn children, and those with compromised immune systems. This 
is a national problem that requires federal leadership.

While I believe the EPA should move forward as soon as practicable to 
establish a national drinking water standard for perchlorate that 
provides guidance to states that are faced with perchlorate 
contamination in their water supplies, my hope is that the EPA will do 
so with a reference dose that appropriately characterizes the risk of 
perchlorate for the most vulnerable.

I appreciate your immediate attention to this issue and look forward to 
your response."

For the original press release, see
http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/05releases/r-perchlorate0608.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
http://www.cpeo.org


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