The State - News from Oct. 13, 1986

Proposed federal safety standards for selenium may not be strong enough to protect humans, fish and other animals, according to two federal officials quoted in the Sacramento Bee. The newspaper story said Dr. Edward Ohanian, head of the health effects branch of the Environmental Protection Agency’s office of drinking water, told the Bee that selenium’s potential for causing birth defects in humans was “entirely overlooked” in coming up with the new safety level proposals. Another official, A. Dennis Lemly, coordinator of an unpublished U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study, said the proposed selenium level to protect fresh water organisms was too high--”double what it needs to be.”