EWG Investigation | U.S. Tap Water Quality Database

Health Limit Exceeded
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Legal Limit
• EPA set legal limit which balances health concerns and treatment costs

Tier 3 Control - past mining and drilling
• Closed or abandoned mines/plans/notices
• Mineral rich land that has been titled to mining interests (mining patents)
• Formerly drilled and pumped oil & gas Leases

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Tap Water Quality Report
The State of Arkansas
894 Water Systems
Serving 3,673,701 People

An Environmental Working Group analysis of tap water tests from 1998 through 2003 for 894 communities across Arkansas shows 88 pollutants were found in drinking water across the state.

Pollution Summary

88	Total Contaminants Detected (1998 - 2003)
7	Agricultural Pollutants (pesticides, fertilizer, factory farms) Chlorate, Nitrate & nitrite, Nitrate, Sulfate, Thallium (total), Bromomethane, Ethylbenzene
31	Sprawl and Urban Pollutants (road runoff, lawn pesticides, human waste) Arsenic (total), Cadmium (total), Copper, Lead (total), Mercury (total inorganic), Nitrate & nitrite, Nitrate, Antimony (total), Naphthalene, MTBE, Fluorene, Phenanthrene, Anthracene, Dimethylphthalate, Diethylphthalate, Fluoranthene, Pyrene, Di-n-butylphthalate, Butyl Benzylphthalate, Benzo[a]anthracene, Benzo[a]pyrene, Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, Dibenz[a,h]anthracene, Benzo[g,h,i]perylene, tert-Butylbenzene, Xylenes (total), Tetrachloroethylene, Benzene, Bromobenzene, n-Propylbenzene, Benzo[b]fluoranthene & Benzo[k]fluoranthene
68	Industrial Pollutants Aluminum, Bromide, Arsenic (total), Chlorate, Barium (total), Cadmium (total), Chromium (total), Cyanide, Lead (total), Mercury (total inorganic), Nitrate & nitrite, Nitrate, Selenium (total), Silver (total), Sulfate, Antimony (total), Thallium (total), Di(2-Ethylhexyl) adipate, Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, Hexachlorocyclopentadiene, Chloromethane, Bromomethane, Chloroethane, Hexachlorobutadiene, Naphthalene, MTBE, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene, Anthracene, Dimethylphthalate, Diethylphthalate, Fluoranthene, Pyrene, Di-n-butylphthalate, Butyl Benzylphthalate, Chrysene, Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, Dibenz[a,h]anthracene, 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene, 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene, 1,2,3-Trichlorobenzene, n-Butylbenzene, 1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene, tert-Butylbenzene, Bromochloromethane, Xylenes (total), Dichloromethane (methylene chloride), o-Chlorotoluene, p-Chlorotoluene, o-Dichlorobenzene, p-Dichlorobenzene, Vinyl chloride, 1,1-Dichloroethane, 1,2-Dichloroethane, 1,1,1-Trichloroethane, Carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-Dichloropropane, Trichloroethylene, Tetrachloroethylene, Monochlorobenzene (Chlorobenzene), Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Bromobenzene, Styrene, n-Propylbenzene
26	Water Treatment and Distribution Byproducts (pipes and fixtures, treatment chemicals and byproducts) Chlorate, Chlorite, Bromate, Cadmium (total), Orthophosphate, Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, Chloromethane, Fluoranthene, Benzo[a]anthracene, Benzo[a]pyrene, Benzo[g,h,i]perylene, Bromochloromethane, Monochloroacetic acid, Dichloroacetic acid, Trichloroacetic acid, Monobromoacetic acid, Dibromoacetic acid, Bromochloroacetic acid, Total haloacetic acids, Chloroform, Bromoform, Bromodichloromethane, Dibromochloromethane, Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), Vinyl chloride, Benzo[b]fluoranthene & Benzo[k]fluoranthene
13	Naturally Occurring (naturally present but increased for lands denuded by sprawl, agriculture, or industrial development) Aluminum, Bromide, Arsenic (total), Chromium (total), Copper, Lead (total), Mercury (total inorganic), Nitrate & nitrite, Nitrate, Selenium (total), Silver (total), Sulfate, Chloromethane
38	Unregulated Contaminants EPA has not established a maximum legal limit in tapwater for these contaminants Bromide, Chlorate, Orthophosphate, Chloromethane, Bromomethane, Chloroethane, Hexachlorobutadiene, Naphthalene, MTBE, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene, Anthracene, Dimethylphthalate, Diethylphthalate, Fluoranthene, Pyrene, Di-n-butylphthalate, Butyl Benzylphthalate, Chrysene, Benzo[a]anthracene, Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, Dibenz[a,h]anthracene, Benzo[g,h,i]perylene, 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene, 1,2,3-Trichlorobenzene, n-Butylbenzene, 1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene, tert-Butylbenzene, Bromochloromethane, Bromochloroacetic acid, o-Chlorotoluene, p-Chlorotoluene, 1,1-Dichloroethane, Bromobenzene, n-Propylbenzene, Benzo[b]fluoranthene & Benzo[k]fluoranthene

88 35
7 1
31 11
68 20
26 18
13 5
Total pollutants Agricultural pollutants Sprawl and Urban pollutants Industrial pollutants Water Treatment and Distribution Byproducts Naturally occurring pollutants
Number of pollutants detected (1998 - 2003) Over health based limits

NOTE: Health based limits included in this analysis include enforceable drinking water limits (called Maximum Contaminant Limits, or MCLs) as well as governmental, non-enforceable health guidelines, such as Maximum Contaminant Limit Goals (MCLGs), lifetime health advisory levels, one-day and ten-day advisory levels to protect children from non-cancer health endpoints, and other government-established health guidelines for tap water contaminants.

Health Summary

The federal government has set standards for 80 chemical pollutants in tap water, balancing health concerns and treatment costs.

Contaminants found in state tap water (1998-2003): 88

Total population exposed above health-based limits: 2,818,461

Communities served water with contaminants above health-based limits: 419

Health effects or target organs of contaminants found: Cardiovascular or Blood Toxicity, Cancer, Developmental Toxicity, Endocrine Toxicity, Immunotoxicity, Kidney Toxicity, Gastrointestinal or Liver Toxicity, Neurotoxicity, Reproductive Toxicity, Respiratory Toxicity, and Skin Sensitivity.

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Contaminants found above health based limits: 35

Rank Contaminant Name Population Exposed (of 3,673,701 Total) Number of Water Systems (of 894) Total
At Any Level Above Health Limits
See Note With Detected Above Health Limits
See Note
1 Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) 2,994,620 2,562,838 468 263
Measure of four disinfection by-products
2 Cyanide 2,675,406 5,740 464 5
Chemical from steel/metal, plastic, or fertilizer factory pollution
3 Barium (total) 2,641,084 275 441 1
Mineral from drilling and mining waste runoff; erosion of natrual deposits
4 Chloroform 2,905,611 2,160,107 434 153
Disinfection by-product
5 Copper 2,542,115 21,235 430 6
contaminant that enters water by corrosion of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits
6 Bromodichloromethane 2,915,769 2,647,293 408 309
Disinfection by-product
7 Dibromochloromethane 2,901,146 2,504,263 400 301
Disinfection by-product
8 Bromoform 2,426,569 269,831 332 49
Disinfection by-product
9 Lead (total) 2,151,671 210,280 323 104
Metal that enters water by corrosion of household plumbing systems; industrial pollutant; erosion of natural deposits
10 Total haloacetic acids 2,784,773 1,670,111 317 93
Measure of disinfection by-products; refers to the sum of the concentrations of dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, monochloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid and dibromoacetic acid in a water sample.

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Testing Summary

The federal government has set standards for some of the pollutants found in tap water supplies.

Contaminants reported as tested by water suppliers in Arkansas 159

Contaminants tested due to federal law: 77

Contaminants tested in addition to those required by federal law: 82

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Violations Summary

According to EPA, in 2003 6% of America's public water systems reported one or more violations of a health-based drinking water standard, and 26% reported significant violations of either monitoring and reporting requirements or health-based standards.

Reported violations (1998 - 2003): 2,328

Number of AR systems with violations: 475 (53.1%)

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Information on violations is drawn directly from EPA's national violations database in the Agency's Safe Drinking Water Information System. Analyses by others have raised questions about the quality of the information in EPA's database. For the purposes of this investigation, EWG is not showing below or including in our analyses, those violations for individual water suppliers that occurred on days for which the total number of violations assigned by EPA to that water supplier was greater than 20. This criteria was based on common characteristics of incorrect violations data as identified by water utilities, from a review of EPA's violations data by several hundred utilities prior to the release of EWG's investigation.