EWG INVESTIGATION

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EWG Statement, 03/10/2008

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NATIONAL SUMMARY

Quality Varies Across the U.S.

CONTAMINANTS DATABASE

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Status: Unregulated - EPA has not established a maximum legal limit in tapwater for this contaminant.

Cyanazine (Bladex) is a cyanazine is an herbicide used on corn to control annual grasses and broadleaf weeds.. Potential health impacts associated with Cyanazine (Bladex) include cancer, cardiovascular or blood toxicity, developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, and respiratory toxicity. [read more]

Sources of Cyanazine (Bladex):

Agriculture (pesticides, fertilizer, factory farms)

An Environmental Working Group analysis of Cyanazine (Bladex) tests reported by 4,594 public water suppliers in 12 states shows that between 1998 and 2003, 293 thousand people in 38 communities drank water contaminated with Cyanazine (Bladex). Cyanazine (Bladex) remains unregulated in tap water, without a maximum legal limit.

Exposure Summary

292,535 People drinking water contaminated with Cyanazine (Bladex) 38 Communities served water contaminated with Cyanazine (Bladex)

Table. Cyanazine (Bladex) Exposure by State

293 thousand Americans in 4 states were served tap water contaminated with Cyanazine (Bladex) between 1998 and 2003.

State	Water suppliers with Cyanazine (Bladex) contamination
	Systems	Population
Missouri	20	177,823
Iowa	12	77,427
Illinois	5	34,785
Nebraska	1	2,500
Total	38	292,535

Table. The most polluted communities

293,000 Americans in 38 communities were served tap water contaminated with Cyanazine (Bladex) between 1998 and 2003

Ranked by highest average Cyanazine (Bladex) level

Rank	System	Population Served	Positive test results of total reported tests	Average Level (Range)
1	Canton Canton, IL	13,932	2 of 6	0.55 ppb (0 to 2.1 ppb)
2	Mount Pleasant Municipal Utilities Mount Pleasant, IA	8,751	1 of 1	0.33 ppb (0.33 to 0.33 ppb)
3	Exira Water Department Exira, IA	810	1 of 1	0.3 ppb (0.3 to 0.3 ppb)
4	Mo American - St Joseph St Joseph, MO	72,000	1 of 18	0.25 ppb (0 to 4.43 ppb)
5	Centralia Centralia, IL	14,274	2 of 7	0.24 ppb (0 to 0.86 ppb)
6	Beaver Lake Inc. Plattsmouth, NE	2,500	3 of 6	0.21 ppb (0 to 0.62 ppb)
7	Fairfield Water Supply Fairfield, IA	9,602	3 of 7	0.2 ppb (0 to 0.52 ppb)
8	Hettick Hettick, IL	182	1 of 6	0.18 ppb (0 to 1.1 ppb)
9	Green City Green City, MO	671	4 of 44	0.16 ppb (0 to 3.39 ppb)
10	Bucklin Bucklin, MO	613	3 of 44	0.15 ppb (0 to 4.89 ppb)

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Health based limits for Cyanazine (Bladex)

Health Limit	Limit Value	Limit Description
Children's health-based limit for 1-day exposure	100 ppb	Concentration of a chemical in drinking water that is not expected to cause any adverse, noncarcinogenic health effects for up to one day of exposure. The One-Day health-based limit (or Health Advisory, HA) is typically set to protect a 10-kg child consuming 1 liter of water per day. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Children's health-based limit for 10-day exposure	100 ppb	Concentration of a chemical in drinking water that is not expected to cause any adverse, noncarcinogenic effects for up to ten days of exposure. The Ten-Day health-based limit (or Health Advisory, HA) is typically set to protect a 10-kg child consuming 1 liter of water per day. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Lifetime health-based limit, non-cancer risk	1 ppb	Concentration of a chemical in drinking water that is not expected to cause any adverse, noncarcinogenic health effects for a lifetime of exposure. The Lifetime health-based limit (or Health Advisory, HA) is based on exposure for a a 70-kg adult consuming 2 liters of water per day. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Drinking Water Equivalent Level	70 ppb	A lifetime exposure concentration protective of adverse, noncarcinogenic health effects, that assumes all of the exposure to a contaminant is from drinking water. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Testing Summary for Cyanazine (Bladex)

Water suppliers report an average of 0.5 Cyanazine (Bladex) tests per year. 35,157 water suppliers failed to report any Cyanazine (Bladex) tests at all.

Are tests routinely required for Cyanazine (Bladex) by federal law? No Water suppliers reporting tests for Cyanazine (Bladex) (1998-2003): 4,594 of 39,751 Average testing rate for water supplier reporting tests (1998-2003): 0.5 per year

Cyanazine (Bladex) Violations

Because Cyanazine (Bladex) is unregulated in tap water, no violations are recorded in EPA's violations database, the Safe Drinking Water Information System. Under the federal tap water law, water suppliers are not required to routinely test for Cyanazine (Bladex), and any level is legal in tap water.