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The US Environmental ProtectionAgency (USEPA) recently proposedthat the maximum contaminantlevel (MCL) for arsenic be revisedfrom 50 to 10 ug/L. This change will havesignificant economic consequences forwater systems. Will the benefits of therevised MCL justify the expense?According to Frost et al, the revisedarsenic MCL will result in high costs foruncertain benefits. To support their theory,they examined the cancer health riskstudies that were used to support theproposed revision and evaluated the qualityof this evidence as well as its costeffectiveness.They maintain that thescience supporting the proposed newarsenic MCL is fraught with uncertainties.For instance, the arsenic MCL revisionis partly based on an extrapolationof arsenic-related cancer risks from studiesin Taiwan to US populations. However,the authors discovered that no USepidemiological studies have foundadverse health effects in people who consumedUS water supplies that containedarsenic. The authors used estimates of thecost of compliance developed by USEPAand the AWWA Research Foundationand USEPA's estimated reductions inarsenic-related cancer mortality to calculatethe marginal cost per year-of-lifegained for different MCL options. Thesecosts were then compared with acceptablecosts for other public health and medicaltreatment interventions. Even assumingUSEPA's projected benefits and costs,Frost et al maintain that the cost per yearof life gained from the proposed regulationis much higher than acceptable costsper year of life gained from medical interventionsor other public health programs.With their findings in mind, the authorshope that the drinking water industry willtake a more aggressive approach to evaluatingthe health effects science for newproposed regulations and that their articlewill initiate a discussion of acceptablecosts per unit of benefit for future regulations.Frost and colleagues also hope thatthe industry, led by AWWA and/or otherorganizations, will confront USEPA toreform the process used to justify newregulations. Includes 30 references, tables.

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Edition: Vol. 94 - No. 3 Published: 03/01/2002 Number of Pages: 10File Size: 1 file , 380 KB