Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Dichloromethane (methylene chloride)

Mccoll, Town of

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.

 

21

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

0

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018ND60ND
2019N/A00N/A
2020ND40ND
2021ND40ND
2022ND40ND
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
2018-03-12AE09098ND
2018-03-12AE09099ND
2018-06-05AE13175ND
2018-08-07AE16322ND
2018-08-07AE16323ND
2018-10-24AE20396ND
2020-02-04AE43956ND
2020-05-04AE47957ND
2020-09-01AE53880ND
2020-12-01AE58179ND
2021-02-22AE61569ND
2021-04-12AE63953ND
2021-09-08AE71526ND
2021-11-29AE75569ND
2022-03-09AE80505ND
2022-06-27AE85787ND
2022-08-24AE88851ND
2022-11-16AE93077ND
2023-01-19AE95775ND
2023-05-15AF01825ND
2023-07-13AF05499ND