Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Benzene

Wallace, Town 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.

 

13

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

0

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018N/A00N/A
2019ND70ND
2020N/A00N/A
2021N/A00N/A
2022ND60ND
2023N/A00N/A

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
2019-08-1437729_19-34793ND
2019-08-1437729_19-34800ND
2019-08-1437729_19-34814ND
2019-08-1437729_19-34824ND
2019-08-1437729_19-34829ND
2019-08-1437729_19-34849ND
2019-08-1937729_19-35353ND
2022-10-0337729_22-47905ND
2022-10-0337729_22-47910ND
2022-10-0337729_22-47925ND
2022-10-0337729_22-47926ND
2022-10-0337729_22-47927ND
2022-10-0337729_22-47928ND