Home Safety / Products / Perchlorate in Private Wells from Agricultural Fertilizer and DoD Legacy Sites (Chilean Nitrate Fertilizer, Propellant Manufacturing, Unexploded Ordnance — No Federal MCL, State-Level Variance)

Perchlorate in Private Wells from Agricultural Fertilizer and DoD Legacy Sites (Chilean Nitrate Fertilizer, Propellant Manufacturing, Unexploded Ordnance — No Federal MCL, State-Level Variance) — household safety profile

Elevated risk

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Perchlorate (ClO4-) is a thyroid-affecting drinking-water contaminant from two primary anthropogenic sources: (1) DoD propellant manufacturing, ammunition plants, and unexploded-ordnance ranges (ammonium perchlorate is the dominant solid-rocket oxidizer); and (2) AGRICULTURAL FERTILIZER — historical Chilean-nitrate (caliche-ore) deposits naturally contain 0.03-0.7% perchlorate, and US imports of Chilean nitrate from 1850-2000 distributed perchlorate broadly across agricultural watersheds.

What is this product?

Perchlorate (ClO4-) is a thyroid-affecting drinking-water contaminant from two primary anthropogenic sources: (1) DoD propellant manufacturing, ammunition plants, and unexploded-ordnance ranges (ammonium perchlorate is the dominant solid-rocket oxidizer); and (2) AGRICULTURAL FERTILIZER — historical Chilean-nitrate (caliche-ore) deposits naturally contain 0.03-0.7% perchlorate, and US imports of Chilean nitrate from 1850-2000 distributed perchlorate broadly across agricultural watersheds. The 2020 EPA regulatory determination NOT TO REGULATE perchlorate at the federal level reversed an earlier 2011 finding that occurrence and risk thresholds were met; EPA reconsideration was reopened in 2023 with no current MCL. Massachusetts maintains a 2 ug/L state MCL; California 6 ug/L; other states variable. CCL5 (2022) lists perchlorate. The mechanism of toxicity is COMPETITIVE INHIBITION OF THE THYROID SODIUM/IODIDE SYMPORTER (NIS) — perchlorate blocks iodide uptake and reduces thyroid hormone synthesis. Pregnant individuals (especially with marginal iodine intake, ~30% of US women), infants, and bottle-fed neonates are the highest-risk population because thyroid-hormone availability during pregnancy and early infancy is critical for neurodevelopment. Private wells in agricultural / former-Chilean-nitrate-receiving regions and within DoD-cleanup-site impact zones (Henderson NV, Edwards AFB CA, Camp Edwards MA) are the dominant private-well exposure context. Perchlorate is highly water-soluble, environmentally persistent, and not readily removed by conventional carbon or RO; ion-exchange (chloride-form anion resin) is the standard removal technology.

What's in it

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Primary Contaminant

Ammonium Salt Form

Co Contaminant

Fertilizer Co Constituent

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