Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Dichloromethane (methylene chloride)

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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.

 

16

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
2019ND40ND
2020ND40ND
2021ND50ND
2022ND30ND
2023N/A00N/A

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
2019-03-07AE26870ND
2019-05-06AE29806ND
2019-08-06AE34771ND
2019-10-16AE38827ND
2020-03-12AE46095ND
2020-05-27AE49081ND
2020-07-22AE51791ND
2020-10-21AE56196ND
2021-03-11AE62652ND
2021-05-26AE66574ND
2021-07-21AE69237ND
2021-07-21AE69238ND
2021-10-20AE73729ND
2022-02-23AE79543ND
2022-04-20AE82475ND
2022-08-23AE88766ND