Risk Assessment of Perchlorate in Biota, Soil, and Groundwater at Agricultural Site in Southern California

Abstract

An agricultural company in Southern California was informed that one of their irriga-tion wells had been contaminated with perchlorate. Concerned about the health and legal implications of using water from the contaminated well to irrigate edible vegetables, the farming company commissioned LFR Levine Fricke to assess the potential health risks posed by the presence of perchlorate in water, soil, and vegetables. This paper provides a brief description of the sequence of events that led to the contamination of an agricultural field, the toxicological properties of perchlorate, the results of the investigation, and recommendations made.

This work was presented at the 218th national meeting of the American Chemical Society as part of the Environmental Division symposium Perchlorate in the Environment held August 22–24, 1999, in New Orleans, Louisiana.