Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Benzene

City of Center

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.

 

12

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

0

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

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

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
2018-04-30Q1817448004ND
2018-08-27Q1834372003ND
2019-05-15Q1925671003ND
2019-07-17Q1946117001ND
2020-03-10Q2009082002ND
2020-08-06Q2031207001ND
2021-06-01Q2114029001ND
2021-09-02Q2123959007ND
2022-03-08Q2207771009ND
2022-08-11Q2223337003ND
2023-02-08Q2304971002ND
2023-07-20Q2328770002ND