Evaluation of the U.S. EPA/OSWER preliminary remediation goal for perchlorate in groundwater: focus on exposure to nursing infants.
BACKGROUND
Perchlorate is a common contaminant of drinking water and food. It competes with iodide for uptake into the thyroid, thus interfering with thyroid hormone production. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) set a groundwater preliminary remediation goal (PRG) of 24.5 microg/L to prevent exposure of pregnant women that would affect the fetus. This does not account for the greater exposure that is possible in nursing infants or for the relative source contribution (RSC), a factor normally used to lower the PRG due to nonwater exposures.


OBJECTIVE
Our goal was to assess whether the OSWER PRG protects infants against exposures from breast-feeding, and to evaluate the perchlorate RSC.


METHODS
We used Monte Carlo analysis to simulate nursing infant exposures associated with the OSWER PRG when combined with background perchlorate.


RESULTS
The PRG can lead to a 7-fold increase in breast milk concentration, causing 90% of nursing infants to exceed the reference dose (RfD) (average exceedance, 2.8-fold). Drinking-water perchlorate must be < 6.9 microg/L to keep the median, and < 1.3 microg/L to keep the 90th-percentile nursing infant exposure below the RfD. This is 3.6- to 19-fold below the PRG. Analysis of biomonitoring data suggests an RSC of 0.7 for pregnant women and of 0.2 for nursing infants. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that the RfD itself needs to be reevaluated because of hormonal effects in the general population.


CONCLUSIONS
The OSWER PRG for perchlorate can be improved by considering infant exposures, by incorporating an RSC, and by being responsive to any changes in the RfD resulting from the new CDC data.
Ginsberg
Gary L
GL
Connecticut Department of Public Health, Hartford, Connecticut 06134, USA. gary.ginsberg@po.state.ct.us
Hattis
Dale B
DB
Zoeller
R Thomas
RT
Rice
Deborah C
DC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002677:Chile; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry; D010472:Perchlorates / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards* / Q000652:urine; D011247:Pregnancy; D014481:United States; D014484:United States Environmental Protection Agency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D018505:Waste Management; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards* / Q000652:urine; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards*
D010472:Perchlorates; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C494474:perchlorate