News Coverage
Feinstein plans bill package to reduce perchlorate risks
Published December 23, 2004
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Wednesday that she plans to introduce legislation in January that would help identify and clean sources of perchlorate, a contaminant that is turning up in food and water across the nation.
The California Democrat wants to create a multiagency perchlorate cleanup task force, push the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set a national drinking water standard for perchlorate and make polluters responsible for cleanup. Her bill would authorize $200 million for related work.
UCDavis Health
Perchlorate is both naturally occurring and man-made. Most of the perchlorate manufactured nationwide is used as the primary ingredient in rocket fuel.
New tests reveal that perchlorate is widespread at low levels. Most recently, the Food and Drug Administration released a survey of supermarkets and farms that showed the compound was in almost all of the milk and lettuce it sampled nationwide.
"It is imperative that we reduce the perchlorate in our drinking water and protect Californians ... from this threat to their health," Feinstein said in a statement. "There is much more work to do to determine the scope and the severity of the contamination across the country."
At high doses, perchlorate can disrupt thyroid function, although scientists and health officials said the levels being detected nationally should not harm healthy adults. Thyroid disruption is especially dangerous for children and nursing infants because it can retard development.
Some of the worst perchlorate contamination is in California, where the compound has been found in more than 350 drinking water sources. The Colorado River, a major source of irrigation and municipal water for Southern California, is among the fouled bodies of water.
The Environmental Working Group, an environmental organization that has investigated perchlorate contamination, said the FDA's recent tests highlighted the need for national action.
Bill Walker, the group's vice president in Oakland, praised Feinstein's plan, saying it would force the Bush administration "to quit stalling and take action."