While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has yet to set a limit on perchlorate in drinking water, California and Massachusetts have adopted standards while New Jersey delayed approving one, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report.
Perchlorate is used in rocket fuel, explosives, fireworks and other products, the GAO report says. It can disrupt the uptake of iodide in the thyroid, potentially interfering with thyroid function and affecting fetal and infant brain development and growth.
California adopted a drinking water standard of 6 parts per billion for perchlorate in 2007, and Massachusetts set one of 2 ppb in 2006, according to the report, released today.
“The key benefits of a regulatory standard cited by state officials include protecting public health and facilitating cleanup enforcement,” the report says.
“New Jersey proposed a drinking water standard of 5 parts per billion in 2009, but the state's newly appointed Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection decided in March 2010 to delay adopting a standard until EPA made its regulatory determination, and New Jersey's proposed rule has lapsed,” the report says.
A March EnviroGuy blog delved into then-acting DEP Commissioner Bob Martin's decision to delay adopting a perchlorate limit.
The DEP issued news releases in March and May about the issue.
In 2005, the DEP unveiled “A Homeowner's Guide to Perchlorate.”
Also that year, the state Drinking Water Quality Institute, which advises the DEP commissioner, discussed the issue and voted to recommend a 5 ppb limit.
