Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Benzene

Bedford Consolidated Water District

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.

 

30

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

0

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018ND30ND
2019ND20ND
2020ND60ND
2021ND70ND
2022ND60ND
2023ND60ND

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
2018-04-20AU08070POCSND
2018-04-20AU08069POCSND
2018-08-13AU17333POCSND
2019-11-14AV24028POCSND
2019-11-19CE63513POCSND
2020-02-25AW03863POCSND
2020-08-19AW16062-POCSND
2020-08-19AW16070-POCSND
2020-08-19AW16064-POCSND
2020-11-04CH09389POCSND
2020-11-04CH09390POCSND
2021-02-03AX02233-POCSND
2021-09-21CJ33013-POCSND
2021-09-21AX19304-POCSND
2021-09-21AX19302-POCSND
2021-09-21AX19306-POCSND
2021-11-10CJ75404-POCSND
2021-11-10CJ75405-POCSND
2022-02-15AY02782-POCSND
2022-09-21AY17019-POCSND
2022-09-21AY17021-POCSND
2022-09-28AY17459-POCSND
2022-11-30CM96271-POCSND
2022-11-30CM96270-POCSND
2023-01-11AZ00705-POCSND
2023-08-29AZ15964-POCSND
2023-08-29AZ15968-POCSND
2023-08-29AZ15966-POCSND
2023-11-28CP54782-POCSND
2023-11-28CP54783-POCSND