EPA: rocket fuel in drinking water

[Guest guest]

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency is taking a second look

at its decision not to limit the amount of a toxic rocket fuel

ingredient allowed in drinking water.

Late last year, the agency proposed not setting a drinking water

standard for perchlorate, which has been found in at least 395 sites in

35 states at levels high enough to interfere with thyroid function and

pose developmental problems in humans.

At the time, the EPA said setting a standard would do little to reduce

risks to public health.

The agency said Thursday it would postpone making a final decision until

the National Academy of Sciences studies the matter. In the meantime, it

recommended that levels of perchlorate in drinking water not exceed 15

parts per billion parts of water.

That level is lower than a threshold considered by the EPA late last

year, but still much higher than standards set by states. In 2007,

California adopted a drinking water standard of 6 parts per billion.

Massachusetts wants the concentration of perchlorate in water to be no

greater than 2 parts per billion.

" This is a sensible step for protecting public health and preserving

regulatory options as the science of perchlorate is reviewed, "

Grumbles, the agency's assistant administrator for water, said in a

statement.

The EPA's own advisers had urged the agency to keep perchlorate on the

list of water contaminants that may require future regulation. An

inspector general's report issued late last year also faulted the agency

for how it evaluated the risk the chemical poses to human health when it

proposed in October not to set a limit for drinking water.

The decision on perchlorate has been pending for years, as the Pentagon

and EPA tussled over the issue. The action Thursday will delay it

further, and punt the decision to the incoming Obama administration.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28564145/