USA: Control percholorate chemicals in drinking water

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made its first decision on controlling percholorate chemical limits in drinking water.

Perchlorate is a salt or ester of perchloric acid, perchlorate both exists in nature and has just been produced and is used primarily as a propellant for rockets, as a component of fireworks and flares.

According to the EPA, perchlorate prevents the thyroid from absorbing iodine from the blood and reduces the functioning of this gland, interrupting the production of important hormones to develop fetuses and babies. Some studies have shown that chemicals cause significant harm, even some claim that this chemical is dangerous only in small doses.

From 2001 to 2005, EPA collected data on perchlorate from 3,865 public water supply sources and detected 4.1% of perchlorate contaminated samples over 4ppb (1 billionth of the volume) - minimum perchlorate level of contaminated samples. . Meanwhile, the average perchlorate level of infected samples is 9.85 ppb.

Meanwhile, the aviation industry believes that the national standard for perchlorate is unnecessary and does not bring significant public health benefits because the perchlorate level in drinking water is so low that it cannot be harmful. The aviation industry representative said, "Science has shown that below 245 ppb is harmless, so should only be controlled at this level."