EWG INVESTIGATION

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EWG Statement, 03/10/2008

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WHAT'S IN YOUR WATER?

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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.

Butachlor is an herbicide for rice, used to control annual grasses and broadleaf weeds. Potential health impacts associated with Butachlor include cancer.

Sources of Butachlor:

Agriculture (pesticides, fertilizer, factory farms)

An Environmental Working Group analysis of Butachlor tests reported by 15,939 public water suppliers in 36 states shows that between 1998 and 2003, 56 thousand people in 9 communities drank water contaminated with Butachlor. No health-based limit has been established by the federal government.Butachlor remains unregulated in tap water, without a maximum legal limit.

Exposure Summary

55,823 People drinking water contaminated with Butachlor 9 Communities served water contaminated with Butachlor

Table. Butachlor Exposure by State

56 thousand Americans in 3 states were served tap water contaminated with Butachlor between 1998 and 2003.

State	Water suppliers with Butachlor contamination
	Systems	Population
Arizona	5	55,500
Wisconsin	3	227
New Mexico	1	96
Total	9	55,823

Table. The most polluted communities

56,000 Americans in 9 communities were served tap water contaminated with Butachlor between 1998 and 2003

Ranked by highest average Butachlor level

Rank	System	Population Served	Positive test results of total reported tests	Average Level (Range)
1	Beardsley Water Company Inc #2 Phoenix, AZ	75	1 of 4	21.5 ppb (0 to 86 ppb)
2	Rio Rico Utilities, Inc. Rio Rico, AZ	10,257	1 of 9	2.78 ppb (0 to 25 ppb)
3	El Mirage, Municipal Water Department El Mirage, AZ	33,109	1 of 5	0.2 ppb (0 to 1 ppb)
4	Anthem Water System Phoenix, AZ	11,000	1 of 5	0.2 ppb (0 to 1 ppb)
5	Desert Ranch Water Company - Op Clovis, NM	96	1 of 12	0.14 ppb (0 to 1.7 ppb)
6	Marana Municipal-heart Ma Tucson, AZ	1,059	1 of 1	0.1 ppb (0.1 to 0.1 ppb)
7	Jensens Mobile Home Village Waterford, WI	40	1 of 1	0.1 ppb (0.1 to 0.1 ppb)
8	Riverside Apts Burlington, WI	37	1 of 1	0.1 ppb (0.1 to 0.1 ppb)
9	Glen Flora Glen Flora, WI	150	1 of 1	0.1 ppb (0.1 to 0.1 ppb)

Testing Summary for Butachlor

Water suppliers report an average of 0.5 Butachlor tests per year. 23,812 water suppliers failed to report any Butachlor tests at all.

Are tests routinely required for Butachlor by federal law? No Water suppliers reporting tests for Butachlor (1998-2003): 15,939 of 39,751 Average testing rate for water supplier reporting tests (1998-2003): 0.5 per year

Butachlor Violations

Because Butachlor 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 Butachlor, and any level is legal in tap water.