News Briefs
Perchlorate contamination mystery in Massachusetts High concentrations of perchlorate have been found in drinking-water source wells in Massachusetts and in discharged water from a wastewater treatment plant in the northeastern corner of the state. What makes these events troubling is that the discoveries cannot be linked to traditional anthropogenic sources, such as rocket-fuel production facilities or military bases, and the levels appear to be too high to be explained by natural sources. Until now, perchlorate contamination of water in the United States has been typically associated with California and southwestern states (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2001, 35, 471A–504A). Perchlorate is considered a cumulative toxin because it interferes with the transport of iodide, which is essential for healthy thyroid function. Anthropogenic sources are considered the main cause of most U.S. contamination. However, natural sources of perchlorate appear to be responsible for low levels of contamination over a 60,000-square-mile area of west Texas (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2003, 37, 376A–377A; 377A–378A). The finding in Massachusetts of perchlorate at levels of hundreds of parts per billion (ppb) in wastewater plant discharges, the first such report in the country, has led to speculation by some that the source could be sodium hypochlorite bleach used as a disinfectant. Analyses made in October did find high perchlorate levels of 4300–5000 ppb in the bleach used at a water treatment plant upstream of a Massachusetts town with perchlorate in its drinking water, according to Lewis Zediana, the town’s water treatment plant engineer. However, the bleach is added at such low concentrations that it can’t be the perchlorate source, he says.
Morgan to head EPA’s SAB . . .
Zediana believes that more significant dumping upstream of the waste treatment plant is the source. But the state’s Department of Environmental Protection is still evaluating the possibility that water treatment procedures are part of the problem, according to spokesperson Edward Colletta. An analytical glitch has caused some of the confusion about the perchlorate’s source, says Zediana. “We’ve found out that [the standard approach of using] ion chromatography isn’t reliable for measuring perchlorate in wastewaters,” he reports. Instead, they used a more sophisticated liquid chromatography– tandem mass spectrometry analytical method and have determined that perchlorate is being dumped into the town’s drainage system, he says. The perchlorate discoveries were serendipitous. In January 2004, Massachusetts issued emergency guidelines requiring communities to monitor for perchlorate between February 2004 and February 2005 after the discovery of groundwater contamination at a military base on Cape Cod. Since then, 700 water treatment systems have been conducting tests and 7 have found contamination, according to Colletta. Because many of these systems are not located near military suppliers or bases, the perchlorate source is unknown—the presence of nearby blasting powder and fireworks are among the possible sources being investigated, he says. In May, Massachusetts set an interim public health recommendation of 1 ppb perchlorate in drinking water for pregnant women, infants, and people with hypothyroidism. —REBECCA RENNER
M. Granger Morgan, University and Lord Chair Professor in Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, was appointed as chair of the U.S. EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) in October. The SAB is composed of scientists and engineers nominated from outside the agency to provide advice on EPA’s work. William Glaze, a professor at Oregon Health and Science University, stepped down after four years as chair. Glaze is ES&T ’s former Editor, and Morgan is currently a member of the journal’s Editorial Advisory Board. Morgan’s research amalgamates science, technology, and public policy, including risk assessments, policy analysis, and how to quantify uncertainty. For more information on the SAB, go to www.epa.gov/ sab.
. . . and Henderson chairs CASAC Rogene Henderson, director of the Lovelace Respiratory Symposium at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque, N.M., became chair of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) in October. She is the first woman to chair the committee. A well-respected expert on how air pollutants affect human health, Henderson primarily researches biochemistry of the lungs and pharmacokinetics of inhaled vapors. Her predecessor, Phil Hopke, a professor at Clarkson University, served as chair for four years. As part of the U.S. EPA’s Science Advisory Board, CASAC members review and advise on science, technology, social, and economic issues related to air pollution.
DECEMBER 15, 2004 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ■ 481A
