Environmental groups petition California to set perchlorate standard at 1 part per billion 

SACRAMENTO, CA (01/31/05) -- A coalition of environmental interest groups have petition the state of California to lower its perchlorate safety recommendation to 1 part per billion (ppb) and to set an emergency standard to accelerate cleanup.

"California has waited too long to protect people from exposure to a chemical that is especially risky for fetuses, newborns and pregnant women," said Renee Sharp, senior analyst with Environmental Working Group, one of eight organizations that petitioned the California Environmental Protection Agency to enact emergency an safety standard. "Perchlorate contaminates not only water but milk and food, and 
the state is required by law to consider a pollutant's effect on fetuses, infants and their mothers."

The state's currently proposed standard, which has not yet been adopted, is 6 ppb. However, the petition cited new data on perchlorate's toxicity and widespread contamination of water, milk and food, plus a new state law requiring drinking water standards to take into consideration the health of pregnant women and infants, as reasons a lower level is needed. After issuing an emergency standard, state officials would be required to review the data and issue a final standard within 240 days.

The groups urged state officials to immediately consider the study released earlier this month by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and recent Food and Drug Administration tests that found perchlorate contamination of food and milk is more widespread than previously thought. Under a law signed last year by Gov. Schwarzenegger (AB 2342-Jackson) the state must review the effects of perchlorate on pregnant women and infants in developing a perchlorate standard.

"Once California accounts for widespread contamination of food and the need to protect pregnant women and newborns, the conclusion is clear," said Dr. Gina Solomon, a physician with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The scientific evidence points toward a perchlorate standard of 1 ppb."

The petition is available online. Groups signing the petition included: Environment California, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Working Group, Sierra Club California, Clean Water Action, Center for Community Action & Environmental Justice, INSIST and Citizens for Chuckwalla Valley.