# Benchmark Calculations for Perchlorate from Three Human Cohorts

## TL;DR

This study calculates benchmark doses for perchlorate exposure in humans and finds no significant effects on thyroid function.

## Contribution

The study provides benchmark dose estimates for perchlorate using data from three human cohorts and finds no significant thyroid effects.

## Key findings

- Benchmark dose estimates for perchlorate were indistinguishable from infinity due to lack of significant effects on TSH or free T4.
- Combined analysis of occupational studies gave benchmark dose ranges of 0.21 to 0.56 mg/kg-day for free T4 index and 0.36 to 0.92 mg/kg-day for TSH.
- Short-term clinical study estimates fell within the ranges derived from the occupational studies.

## Abstract

The presence of low concentrations of perchlorate in some drinking water sources has led to concern regarding potential effects on the thyroid. In a recently published report, the National Academy of Sciences indicated that the perchlorate dose required to cause hypothyroidism in adults would probably be > 0.40 mg/kg-day for months or longer. In this study, we calculated benchmark doses for perchlorate from thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (T4) serum indicators from two occupational cohorts with long-term exposure to perchlorate, and from a clinical study of volunteers exposed to perchlorate for 2 weeks. The benchmark dose for a particular serum indicator was defined as the dose predicted to cause an additional 5 or 10% of persons to have a serum measurement outside of the normal range. Using the data from the clinical study, we estimated the half-life of perchlorate in serum at 7.5 hr and the volume of distribution at 0.34 L/kg. Using these estimates and measurements of perchlorate in serum or urine, doses in the occupational cohorts were estimated and used in benchmark calculations. Because none of the three studies found a significant effect of perchlorate on TSH or free T4, all of the benchmark dose estimates were indistinguishable from infinity. The lower 95% statistical confidence limits on benchmark doses estimated from a combined analysis of the two occupational studies ranged from 0.21 to 0.56 mg/kg-day for free T4 index and from 0.36 to 0.92 mg/kg-day for TSH. Corresponding estimates from the short-term clinical study were within these ranges.