Perchlorates
Apr 24th 2005Wallabynerd alert
The menace of perchlorates grows again. Now 36 states (the AP says) have detected perchlorate in their drinking water. Perchlorate is at least potentially a hazard, because it can interfere with thyroid activity in adults and children, causing problems with metabolism and normal growth. Industrially, perchlorates are used as oxidizers in rocket fuel and fireworks and military explosives. And so now, places that are near or downstream from former military test sites, rocket fuel makers, explosives makers, etc. are having problems with perchlorates.
The EPA is considering a MCL for perchlorate; there isn’t one yet. The California DHS uses 6 ug/L (6 ppb) as a “notification level”. The limit of detection is about 4 ppb, so this works out to “if we can see *any* perchlorate, it’s too much”. The EPA’s report in January said much the same thing — except that proposed 1 ppb as the limit.
One problem: Perchlorates occur naturally, too. A recent paper from Dasgupta at Texas Tech found 20-60 ppb perchlorate in rainwater samples from sites with no evidence of human manufacture of perchlorates.
This is a bit like finding out that state parks naturally produce their own discarded cigarette butts, or a state deciding that fallen leaves on peoples’ lawns is a cause for concern. The cost of remediating heavily contaminated sites is one thing, but the cost of cleaning naturally-produced chemicals out of the rain…?
Finally, the recent AP story featured the town of Rialto, California, which is up in arms about perchlorates coming from an area north of town that used to be used for weapons manufacture and storage. Now they’ve built a bunch of new homes around the edges of that land — why? Had nobody considered that it might not be a good idea to live right next to that land? that maybe they’d better just plan on expanding in some other direction if they feel the need for more room? (This is not to say that the military should be considered guilt-free; perchlorates were known to not really be safe 60 years ago — they were used in bombs, after all — and spills should’ve been avoided.)
One Response to “Perchlorates”
“Finally, the recent AP story featured the town of Rialto, California, which is up in arms about perchlorates coming from an area north of town that used to be used for weapons manufacture and storage. Now they’ve built a bunch of new homes around the edges of that land — why? Had nobody considered that it might not be a good idea to live right next to that land?”
that’d require some common sense, though… like the people who have been whining for the last 10 years or so about the noise of the airport around their nice new homes when they knew very well that the airport had been located there for years and wasn’t likely to get moved…