| Contaminant | Acceptable Limit | Sources/Uses | Potential Health Effects at High Concentration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atrazine | 3 ppb | Used
as a herbicide; surface or groundwater | Heart and Liver damage contamination from agricultural runoff or leaching |
| Benzene | 5 ppb | Gasoline additive; usually from accidental oil spills, industrial uses, or landfills | Blood disorders, like aplasticaremia, immune system depression, acute exposure affects central nervous system causing dizziness, headaches, long-term exposure increases cancer risks |
| Fluorides | 4.0 mg/L | Additive in treatment process; also used in manufacturing processes and insecticides | Mottling of teeth and bones |
| Lead | 15 ppb | Used in batteries; lead gasolines and pipe solder; may be leached from brass faucets, lead caulking, lead pipes and lead soldered joints | Nervous disorders and mental impairment especially in fetuses, infants, and young children; kidney damage; blood disorders and hypertension; low birth weights |
| Nitrates | 10
mg/L nitrate-N | Soil by-product of agricultural fertilization; human and animal waste leaching to groundwater | Methemoglobinemia (blue baby disease) in infants (birth-6 months); low health threat to children and adults |
| Radon | 300 pCi/L | Naturally-occurring gas formed from uranium decay can seep into well water from surrounding rocks and be released in the air as it leaves the faucet | Breathing gas increases chances of lung cancer; may increase risk of stomach, colon, and bladder cancers |
| Trihalomethanes | 0.100 mg/L | Results from residual chlorine in treated water that combines with organic matter in water | Cancer; heart, lung, kidney, and liver damage |
Publication #: 356-489
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