The State Senate today approved SB 187, a bill by Senator Nell Soto (D – Pomona) that would require health officials to keep the door open to a revised potential standard for perchlorate levels in drinking water.

Perchlorate, a salt-based compound used in rocket fuel, fireworks and other explosives, can interfere with thyroid function in humans and may thus contribute to a range of health-related problems.

Last year, the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) announced a “public health goal” of six-parts-per-billion (6 ppb) concentration of perchlorate in drinking water – a major step towards making California one of the first states to establishment a safety standard for perchlorate.

But some public health officials and environmental groups have raised concerns that 6 ppb concentration may not be strict enough, especially when it comes to protecting newborns or other vulnerable populations. Among the many recent revelations about perchlorate, which has contaminated hundreds of wells across California, is that the compound has been found in the breast milk of nursing mothers.

SB 187 would require OEHHA to revise the previously-announced public health goal based upon the availability of new ways of detecting exposures to perchlorate, such as the ability to measure concentrations in foods.  OEHHA would be required to revise the standard immediately if OEHHA determined that the existing standard did not adequately protect pregnant women, fetuses and others.

“We know that perchlorate can have harmful effects on infants and children, and can cause attention deficit disorder, lower IQ and thyroid damage,” Soto said, “and recent findings by the National Research Council suggest additional research is needed to determine the magnitude of the exposure needed to harm infants and pregnant women.

“My bill asks OEHHA to immediately revise the public health goal for perchlorate based on new findings that the current goal may not protect pregnant women, fetuses, infants or other vulnerable populations.”

SB 187 now heads to the Assembly for consideration.