Lutter Randall
Risk Anal. 2014 Oct;34(10):1944-56. doi: 10.1111/risa.12261. Epub 2014 Sep 5.
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to issue new federal regulations to limit drinking water concentrations of perchlorate, which occurs naturally and results from the combustion of rocket fuel. This article presents an upper-bound estimate of the potential benefits of alternative maximum contaminant levels for perchlorate in drinking water. The results suggest that the economic benefits of reducing perchlorate concentrations in drinking water are likely to be low, i.e., under $2.9 million per year nationally, for several reasons. First, the prevalence of detectable perchlorate in public drinking water systems is low. Second, the population especially sensitive to effects of perchlorate, pregnant women who are moderately iodide deficient, represents a minority of all pregnant women. Third, and perhaps most importantly, reducing exposure to perchlorate in drinking water is a relatively ineffective way of increasing iodide uptake, a crucial step linking perchlorate to health effects of concern.
美国环境保护局计划发布新的联邦法规，以限制饮用水中高氯酸盐的浓度，高氯酸盐既天然存在，也源于火箭燃料燃烧。本文给出了饮用水中高氯酸盐替代最大污染物水平潜在益处的上限估计。结果表明，由于若干原因，降低饮用水中高氯酸盐浓度的经济效益可能较低，即全国每年低于290万美元。首先，公共饮用水系统中可检测到高氯酸盐的情况并不普遍。其次，对高氯酸盐影响特别敏感的人群，即碘轻度缺乏的孕妇，在所有孕妇中只占少数。第三，或许也是最重要的一点，减少饮用水中高氯酸盐的接触是增加碘摄取的一种相对低效的方式，而碘摄取是将高氯酸盐与相关健康影响联系起来的关键一步。
