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Adoption of 20 Public Health Goals

Memorandum

To: Winston H. Hickox, Secretary for Environmental Protection

From: Joan E. Denton, Ph.D., Director

Date: February 4, 1999

Subject: Adoption of 20 Public Health Goals for chemicals in California drinking water (1998-99)

In accordance with Health and Safety Code, Section 116365 (California Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996, SB 1307, Calderon/Sher), the Office of Environmental Health Assessment (OEHHA) hereby adopts Public Health Goals (PHGs) for 20 chemicals in drinking water based exclusively on public health considerations. OEHHA has completed 19 technical support documents which provide the basis for the adoption of the 20 PHGs. These documents have undergone a public workshop and two public review and comment periods in fulfillment of the requirements of Health and Safety Code, Section 57003 (SB 1082). The final documents have incorporated changes in response to peer review and public comments and will be available on our web site. The 20 chemicals and the corresponding PHGs are presented below.

The full technical support documents are available here.

The support documents provide information on health effects of chemicals and estimates of the levels of chemicals in drinking water that would pose no significant health risk to individuals consuming the water on a daily basis over a lifetime. PHGs represent non-mandatory goals based solely on public health considerations and are developed based on the best available data in the scientific literature. These documents provide technical assistance to the Department of Health Services for establishing primary drinking water standards (State Maximum Contaminant Levels, or MCLs) which also consider economic factors and technical feasibility. They also provide relevant information on the chemicals to federal, state, and local public health officials.

OEHHA appreciates this opportunity for developing the PHGs in fulfillment of our mission in environmental and public health protection.

California Public Health Goals (PHGs)1
for Chemicals in Drinking Water

Chemical

PHG (ug/L or ppb)2
Atrazine

0.15
Bentazon

200
Cadmium

0.07
Chromium (total)

(withdrawn 11/09/01)
1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP)

0.0017

1,2-Dichloroethane (1,2-DCA, ethane dichloride, ethylene dichloride, EDC)

0.4
1,1-Dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE, vinylidene chloride, VDC)

10
1,2-Dichloropropane (1,2-DCP, propylene chloride)

0.5
1,3-Dichloropropene (Telone IIâ , 1,3-DCP)

0.2
Endrin

1.8
Heptachlor

0.008
Heptachlor epoxide

0.006
Hexachlorocyclopentadiene (HEX)

50

Lindane (gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane, g -HCH, g -BHC, g -HCCH)

0.032
Mercury inorganic

1.2
Methoxychlor

30
Thallium

0.1
Toluene (methylbenzene)

150
1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene (1,2,4-TCB, 1,2,4-trichlorobenzol)

5
1,1,2-Trichloroethylene (TCE)

0.8

Footnotes:

1. Public Health Goals (PHGs) are developed by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA)

2. ug/L = micrograms per liter or ppb = parts per billion.