EWG INVESTIGATION

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EWG Statement, 03/10/2008

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NATIONAL SUMMARY

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CONTAMINANTS DATABASE

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

Dacthal is a herbicide for use on turf, strawberries, cotton, soybeans, and other plants. Potential health impacts associated with Dacthal include cancer.

Sources of Dacthal:

Agriculture (pesticides, fertilizer, factory farms)

An Environmental Working Group analysis of Dacthal tests reported by 1,248 public water suppliers in 7 states shows that between 1998 and 2003, 486 thousand people in 16 communities drank water contaminated with Dacthal. Dacthal remains unregulated in tap water, without a maximum legal limit.

Exposure Summary

486,126 People drinking water contaminated with Dacthal 16 Communities served water contaminated with Dacthal

Table. Dacthal Exposure by State

486 thousand Americans in 5 states were served tap water contaminated with Dacthal between 1998 and 2003.

State	Water suppliers with Dacthal contamination
	Systems	Population
California	5	357,490
New York	1	53,077
Rhode Island	3	51,000
Iowa	6	24,507
Nevada	1	52
Total	16	486,126

Table. The most polluted communities

486,000 Americans in 16 communities were served tap water contaminated with Dacthal between 1998 and 2003

Ranked by highest average Dacthal level

Rank	System	Population Served	Positive test results of total reported tests	Average Level (Range)
1	United Water Rhode Island Wakefield, RI	17,500	1 of 3	6.53 ppb (0 to 19.6 ppb)
2	Lincoln - Town of Lincoln, RI	19,000	2 of 4	1.88 ppb (0 to 4.7 ppb)
3	White Plains City White Plains, NY	53,077	1 of 1	1.4 ppb (1.4 to 1.4 ppb)
4	Cal - Water Service Co. - Chico San Jose, CA	84,840	4 of 21	0.99 ppb (0 to 8 ppb)
5	Painted Desert Water Users Association Mt Charleston, NV	52	1 of 2	0.9 ppb (0 to 1.8 ppb)
6	Muscatine Power & Water Muscatine, IA	22,697	1 of 1	0.7 ppb (0.7 to 0.7 ppb)
7	Lewis Water Supply Lewis, IA	438	3 of 3	0.63 ppb (0.37 to 0.89 ppb)
8	University of Rhode Island South Kingstown, RI	14,500	1 of 2	0.6 ppb (0 to 1.2 ppb)
9	Hancock Water Supply Hancock, IA	207	2 of 4	0.55 ppb (0 to 1.2 ppb)
10	Chestnut Ridge Center Point, IA	50	3 of 3	0.5 ppb (0.41 to 0.55 ppb)

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Health based limits for Dacthal

Health Limit	Limit Value	Limit Description
Children's health-based limit for 1-day exposure	80000 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	80000 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	70 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	400 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 Dacthal

Water suppliers report an average of 0.7 Dacthal tests per year. 38,503 water suppliers failed to report any Dacthal tests at all.

Are tests routinely required for Dacthal by federal law? No Water suppliers reporting tests for Dacthal (1998-2003): 1,248 of 39,751 Average testing rate for water supplier reporting tests (1998-2003): 0.7 per year

Dacthal Violations

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