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.

Alpha Chlordane is a component of the banned pesticide Chlordane, a termiticide for home, garden, roadside, and agricultural use. Potential health impacts associated with Alpha Chlordane include endocrine toxicity.

Sources of Alpha Chlordane:

Agriculture (pesticides, fertilizer, factory farms)

An Environmental Working Group analysis of Alpha Chlordane tests reported by 2,441 public water suppliers in 5 states shows that between 1998 and 2003, 200 thousand people in 2 communities drank water contaminated with Alpha Chlordane. No health-based limit has been established by the federal government.Alpha Chlordane remains unregulated in tap water, without a maximum legal limit.

Exposure Summary

200,040 People drinking water contaminated with Alpha Chlordane 2 Communities served water contaminated with Alpha Chlordane

Table. Alpha Chlordane Exposure by State

200 thousand Americans in 2 states were served tap water contaminated with Alpha Chlordane between 1998 and 2003.

State	Water suppliers with Alpha Chlordane contamination
	Systems	Population
Delaware	1	200,000
Wisconsin	1	40
Total	2	200,040

Table. The most polluted communities

200,000 Americans in 2 communities were served tap water contaminated with Alpha Chlordane between 1998 and 2003

Ranked by highest average Alpha Chlordane level

Rank	System	Population Served	Positive test results of total reported tests	Average Level (Range)
1	Jensens Mobile Home Village Waterford, WI	40	1 of 1	0.1 ppb (0.1 to 0.1 ppb)
2	Artesian Water Company Newark, DE	200,000	1 of 74	< 0.01 ppb (0 to 0.07 ppb)

Testing Summary for Alpha Chlordane

Water suppliers report an average of 0.5 Alpha Chlordane tests per year. 37,310 water suppliers failed to report any Alpha Chlordane tests at all.

Are tests routinely required for Alpha Chlordane by federal law? No Water suppliers reporting tests for Alpha Chlordane (1998-2003): 2,441 of 39,751 Average testing rate for water supplier reporting tests (1998-2003): 0.5 per year

Alpha Chlordane Violations

Because Alpha Chlordane 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 Alpha Chlordane, and any level is legal in tap water.