Arsenic Deja Vu

doi:10.1126/science.294.5545.1257c

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ScienceScope

Ending one of the biggest scientific controversies of the young Bush Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week issued a new standard for arsenic in drinking water. It chose exactly the same level of 10 parts per billion (ppb) set by the Clinton Administration.

In March, EPA administrator Christine Whitman suspended that standard and asked for more scientific review, noting that cleanup costs could be high. Her move provoked an uproar among environmentalists and some members of Congress and inspired countless jibes about the president's disregard for the public's health. But if more review was meant to block the standard, it backfired: A National Academy of Sciences panel found that the cancer risks of arsenic were greater than previously thought, suggesting that even 10 ppb might not be protective enough (Science, 21 September, p. 2189). The panel's chair, retired pathologist Robert Goyer, declined to comment on EPA's decision. But he said that it's in line with a World Health Organization guideline followed by many countries.