Monochloroacetic acid

Athol DPW Water Division

Monochloroacetic acid, one of the group of five haloacetic acids regulated by federal standards, is formed when chlorine or other disinfectants are used to treat drinking water. Haloacetic acids and other disinfection byproducts increase the risk of cancer and may cause problems during pregnancy. Click here to read more about disinfection byproducts.

MORE ABOUT THIS CONTAMINANT

Samples

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

Year	Average result	Samples taken	Detections	Range of results
2014	N/A	0	0	N/A
2015	0.217 ppb	6	1	ND - 1.30 ppb
2016	ND	8	0	ND
2017	ND	6	0	ND
2018	0.118 ppb	8	1	ND - 0.940 ppb
2019	0.269 ppb	9	3	ND - 0.950 ppb

ppb = parts per billion

State and national drinking water standards and health guidelines

EWG Health Guideline 53 ppb

The EWG Health Guideline of 53 ppb for monochloroacetic acid was proposed in 2020 by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment as a public health goal, the level of a drinking water contaminant that does not pose a significant health risk.. This health guideline protects against system toxicity.

ppb = parts per billion

All test results

Date	Result
2015-02-17	ND
2015-02-17	1.30 ppb
2015-05-19	ND
2015-05-19	ND
2015-11-17	ND
2015-11-17	ND
2016-02-16	ND
2016-02-17	ND
2016-05-17	ND
2016-05-17	ND
2016-08-16	ND
2016-08-16	ND
2016-11-15	ND
2016-11-15	ND
2017-02-21	ND
2017-02-21	ND
2017-05-16	ND
2017-05-16	ND
2017-11-21	ND
2017-11-21	ND
2018-02-20	0.940 ppb
2018-02-20	ND
2018-05-15	ND
2018-05-15	ND
2018-09-04	ND
2018-09-04	ND
2018-11-19	ND
2018-11-19	ND
2019-02-19	0.950 ppb
2019-02-19	ND
2019-05-21	0.675 ppb
2019-05-21	0.799 ppb
2019-08-20	ND
2019-08-20	ND
2019-11-19	ND
2019-11-19	ND
2019-12-17	ND