Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Dichloromethane (methylene chloride)

Brookfield Housing Authority

Methylene chloride is a common industrial solvent used for paint stripping, vapor degreasing, printing, electronics manufacturing and cleaning. It causes cancer and liver damage in animal studies. Read More.

Surface and groundwater can be contaminated with methylene chloride from industrial releases and landfill leaching. The EPA considers methylene chloride likely carcinogenic to people. Long-term ingestion of drinking water with methylene chloride contamination can cause liver damage and cancer. Occupational exposure to methylene chloride and other solvents has been linked with increased risk of miscarriage. Birth defects have also been observed in studies of laboratory animals exposed to methylene chloride during pregnancy.

Click here to read more about carcinogenic VOCs.

 

23

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

0

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018ND40ND
2019ND40ND
2020ND50ND
2021ND40ND
2022ND30ND
2023ND30ND

ppb = parts per billion

State, National, and Health Guidelines for Drinking Water

EWG Health Guideline: 4 ppb

The EWG Health Guideline of 4 ppb for dichloromethane (methylene chloride) was defined 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 cancer.

EPA Maximum Contaminant
Level (MCL): 5 ppb

The legal limit for dichloromethane, established in 1992, was based on analytical detection limits at the time that the standard was set.

ppb = parts per billion

All test results

Date Lab ID Result
2018-01-02308185GEND
2018-04-05310856GEND
2018-07-02313763GEND
2018-10-25317823GEND
2019-01-10320037GEND
2019-05-06323389GEND
2019-07-18325957GEND
2019-10-02328544GEND
2020-01-02330908GEND
2020-02-12332070GEND
2020-04-01333235GEND
2020-07-06336108GEND
2020-10-20339922GEND
2021-01-06341688ND
2021-04-09343983ND
2021-07-13346732ND
2021-10-07349648ND
2022-01-04351433ND
2022-04-05352810ND
2022-07-28420-230863-2ND
2023-05-25N3E1051-01PPSND
2023-07-21N3G0752-01ND
2023-11-17N3K0563-01ND