[CPEO-MEF] Distinguishing perchlorate sources

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

SERDP and ESTCP Efforts Identify and Distinguish Military, Non-Military, 
and Natural Sources of Perchlorate

SERDP-ESTCP Information Bulletin
Summer, 2006

Since perchlorate's identification as a chemical of concern in 1997, 
improved analytical methods have increased the frequency of detecting 
perchlorate in groundwater and drinking water supplies. Current 
estimates indicate perchlorate is present in groundwater in at least 30 
states and may affect the drinking water supplies of more than 20 
million people in the southwestern United States. While the source of 
perchlorate in water supplies has long been attributed to the Department 
of Defense (DoD), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 
and defense contractor facilities, non-military sources of perchlorate 
also have been documented. Further, perchlorate-contaminated sites have 
been identified for which anthropogenic sources of contamination are 
unlikely, raising questions about the role of natural sources. With 
SERDP and ESTCP support, researchers are identifying and assessing 
anthropogenic and natural sources of perchlorate as well as developing 
and demonstrating innovative tools capable of distinguishing perchlorate 
origins.

Anthropogenic, non-military sources of perchlorate are being examined 
under the SERDP project Evaluation of Alternative Causes of Wide-Spread, 
Low Concentration Perchlorate Impacts to Groundwater (ER-1429)....

To distinguish natural from anthropogenic perchlorate in the 
environment, investigators from Shaw Environmental, the University of 
Illinois at Chicago, USGS, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are 
developing and validating stable isotope methods under the ESTCP project 
Validation of Chlorine and Oxygen Isotope Ratio Analysis to 
Differentiate Perchlorate Sources and to Document Perchlorate 
Biodegradation (ER-0509)....


...

For the entire article, download the Bulletin as a 486 K PDF file from
http://www.serdp.org/general/Publications/QuarterlyBulletins.cfm

--
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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