Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Benzene

Hoxie, City of

Benzene is a known human carcinogen. It also damages blood cells and the nervous system. Emissions from petroleum processing, hazardous waste landfills and underground storage tanks contaminate drinking water with benzene. Read More.

To protect against cancer risks, California set a public health goal for benzene in drinking water at 0.15 parts per billion, 30 times lower than the federal legal limit of 5 parts per billion.

Click here to read more about carcinogenic VOCs.

 

16

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

0

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018ND40ND
2019N/A00N/A
2020ND50ND
2021N/A00N/A
2022N/A00N/A
2023ND70ND

ppb = parts per billion

State, National, and Health Guidelines for Drinking Water

EWG Health Guideline: 0.15 ppb

The EWG Health Guideline of 0.15 ppb for benzene 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 benzene, established in 1987, was based on analytical detection limits at the time that the standard was set. This limit may not fully protect against the risk of cancer due to benzene exposure.

ppb = parts per billion

All test results

Date Lab ID Result
2018-01-08904982ND
2018-01-08904983ND
2018-01-08904984ND
2018-01-08904985ND
2020-09-141518023ND
2020-09-141518026ND
2020-09-141518027ND
2020-09-141518029ND
2020-09-141518030ND
2023-10-022586674ND
2023-10-022586676ND
2023-10-022586678ND
2023-10-162596101ND
2023-10-162596102ND
2023-12-192629196ND
2023-12-192629197ND