Perchlorate Environmental Contamination: Toxicological Review and Risk Characterization (2002 External Review Draft)

Perchlorate (ClO4-) is an anion that originates as a contaminant in ground water and surface waters when the salts of ammonium, potassium, magnesium, or sodium dissolve in water. One major source of contamination is the manufacture or improper disposal of ammonium perchlorate that is used as the primary component in solid propellant for rockets, missiles, and fireworks. Appreciation of widespread contamination in the United States emerged in the Spring of 1997 when development of an analytical method with a quantitation level at 4 ppb became available. By May of that same year EPA was engaged in developing a targeted testing strategy to evaluate the potential human health and ecotoxicological effects of potential perchlorate exposures. The National Center for Environmental Assessment first released an external review draft in 1998 and recommendations for additional studies and analyses were made at a 1999 scientific peer review. The external review draft of the revised document, "Perchlorate Environmental Contamination: Toxicological Review and Risk Characterization" responds to those recommendations and incorporates results from extensive laboratory and field studies performed since 1999. For more information on perchlorate and the external review draft, including Frequently Asked Questions, see the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water's website at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/ccl/perchlorate/perchlorate.html

External Peer Review
An external scientific peer review workshop to review the revised draft report, "Perchlorate Environmental Contamination: Toxicological Review and Risk Characterization" (2002 external review draft) will take place on March 5 and 6, 2002, in Sacramento, CA. Members of the public may register to attend as observers. All questions regarding workshop registration and logistics should be directed to EPA's contractor, the Eastern Research Group, Inc. For contact information, please refer to the January 2, 2002, Federal Register notice (and corrections to this notice on the address to submit comments published in the Federal Register on January 14, 2002); links to these Federal Register notices are provided on this web page under Downloads.

Public Comment
EPA's January 2, 2002, Federal Register notice (67 FR 75) announced the beginning of a 30-day public comment period for the revised draft perchlorate assessment. Because of an approximately one-week delay in public release and availability of the draft document, EPA extended the public comment period to February 19, 2002 (67 FR 3493, January 24, 2002). In response to the high level of interest in this draft document and because of several requests for extension of the comment period, EPA has extended the public comment period by an additional 45 days to April 5, 2002. Comments on the draft document should be in writing and must be received (not postmarked) by April 5, 2002 (67 FR 9271, Feb. 28, 2002).

It should be noted that comments postmarked by February 19, 2002, will be made available to the peer review panel prior to the peer review. Comments received between February 19 and March 5, 2002, will be made available to the peer reviewers at the peer review meeting. Comments received after the peer review meeting and up until April 5, 2002, will also be made available to the peer reviewers. As with all peer review meetings, the peer reviewers are not charged directly with reading or considering all observer comments. Rather, it is up to the professional judgment of the reviewers to consider observer comments as they deem appropriate. In addition, the review of and response to public comments is the responsibility of the EPA, as the Agency moves forward with the development of the assessment.

Comments should be submitted to EPA's contractor, Eastern Research Group (ERG), Attn: Meetings, 110 Hartwell Ave., Lexington, MA 02421. Commentsunder 50 pages may be sent via e-mail attachment (in Word, Word Perfect, or PDF) to meetings@erg.com. As is the EPA's normal procedure, the Agency will summarize and indicate the disposition of all major comments provided by April 5, 2002, in preparation for its release of the assessment in final form.

Additional Information

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