1,2-Dichlorobenzene or O-Dichlorobenzene- an organic liquid that is colorless with a pleasant aromatic odor

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.6 ppm (600 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  0.6 ppm (600 ppb)

Major Use: a chemical intermediate for making agricultural chemicals, primarily herbicides

Other Uses: solvent for waxes, gums, resins, wood preservatives, paints; insecticide for termites and borers; making dyes; as a coolant; deodorizer and degreaser

Trade Names: ortho-Dichlorobenzol, Dilantin, Dowtherm E, Chloroben, Dilatin DB 

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: none known. Long-term: damage to the nervous system, liver, kidneys and blood cells.

1,4-Dichlorobenzene or P-Dichlorobenzene- an organic white crystalline compound  made by chlorinating benzene

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.075 ppm (75 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  0.075 ppm (75 ppb)

Major Use: fumigant against clothes moths

Other Uses: toilet bowl, garbage and restroom deodorant, insecticide and for mold control

Trade Names: Paradichlorobenzene, Paradichlorobenzol, Paramoth, Di-Chloricide, Paradi, Paradow, Persia-Perazol, Evola, Parazene

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: nausea, vomiting, headaches, and irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract.   Long-term: anemia, skin lesions, appetite loss, damage to liver and changes in blood.

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.005 ppm (5 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  zero

Major Use: making chemicals involved in plastics, rubber and synthetic textile fibers

Other Uses: a solvent for resins and fats; in photography, photo copying, cosmetics and drugs; and as a fumigant for grains and orchards

Trade Names: 1,2-Ethylene, dichloride, Glycol dichloride, Freon 150, Borer sol, Brocide, Destruxol borer-sol, Dichlor-mulsion, Dutch oil, Granosan

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: central nervous system disorders, and adverse lung, kidney, liver circulatory and gastrointestinal effects. Long-term: cancer.

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.007 ppm (7 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  0.007 ppm (7 ppb)

Main Use: making adhesives

Other Uses: synthetic fibers, refrigerants and food packaging and coating resins such as the saran types

Trade Names: 1,1-DCE, 1,1-Dichloroethene, Asym-dichloro-ethylene, Vinylidene chloride

Potential Health Effects:  Short-term: liver damage. Long-term: liver and kidney damage, as well as toxicity to the developing fetus; cancer.

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.005 ppm (5 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  zero

Major Use: solvent, paint remover and aerosol propellant

Other Uses:

Trade Names: DCM, Methylene chloride

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: Damage to the nervous system and to blood. Long-term: liver damage; cancer.

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.005 ppm (5 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  zero

Major Use:

Other Uses: major source is discharge from chemical factories

Trade Names:

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: damage to the liver, kidneys, adrenal glands, bladder, and the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts. Long-term: cancer

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.007 ppm (7 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  0.007 ppm (7 ppb)

Major Use: contact herbicide for post-emergence weed control in cereals, undersown cereals, seedling lucerne and peas

Other Uses: corn yield enhancer and an insecticide and miticide

Trade Names: Aatox, Chemox, Gebutox, Knox-weed, Basanite, BNP20, Butaphene, Dibutox, Dinitrall, Dinitro, Desicoil, Dow Selective Weed Killer, Hivertox, Ladob, Laseb, Nitropone C, Dytop, Premerge, Hel-fire, Caldon, Kiloseb, Sinox General, Sublitex, Dinitrobuty-phenol

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: sweating, headache, mood changes. Long-term: decreased body and thyroid weight, degeneration of testes, thickening of intestinal lining

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.00000003 ppb,

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  zero

Major Use: Formed in the production of herbicides such as Silvex and during the combustion of a variety of chlorinated organic compounds

Other Uses:

Trade Names: Tetradioxin

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: liver damage, weight loss, wasting of glands important to the body's immune system. Long-term: a variety of reproductive effects, from reduced fertility to birth defects; cancer.

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.006 ppm (6 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  zero

Major Use: plasticizer for polyvinylchloride (PVC) and other polymers including rubber, cellulose and styrene

Other Uses: packing materials and tubing used in the production of foods and beverages

Trade Names: DEHP, BEHP, Dioctylphthalate, Pittsburg PX-138, Platinol AH, RC Plasitcizer DOP, Reomol D79P, Sicol 150, Staflex DOP, Truflex DOP, Vestinol AH, Vinicizer 80, Palatinol AH, Hercoflex 260, Kodaflex DOP, Mollan O, Nuoplaz DOP, Octoil, Eviplast 80, Fleximel, Flexol DOP, Good-rite GP264, Hatcol DOP, Ergoplast FDO, DAF 68, Bisoflex 81

Potential Health Effects:  Short-term: mild gastrointestinal disturbance, nausea, vertigo. Long-term: damage to liver and testes; reproductive effects; cancer.

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.02 ppm (20ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  0.02 ppm (20 ppb)

Main Use: herbicide to control both crop and aquatic weeds

Other Uses: used on potatoes; as an aid in harvesting cotton, rapeseed and other oil seed crops; to wilt and dry out silage, standing hay etc. for storage; a plant growth regulator and sugar cane-flowering suppressant

Trade Names: Reglone

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: dehydration. Long-term: cataracts

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.1 ppm (100 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  0.1 ppm (100 ppb)

Major Use: defoliant, herbicide and desiccant

Other Uses: sometimes used for sugar beets, turf, hops and sucker suppression; alfalfa and clover desiccants; potato vine killers; terrestrial and aquatic weed herbicide

Trade Names: Accelerate, Aquathol, Des-i-cate, Endothall Turf Herbicide, Endothall Weed Killer, Herbicide 273, Hydrothol, Herbon Pennout, Hydrout

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: depressed breathing and heart rate.  Long-term: increase in size of some internal organs, particularly stomach and intestine

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.002 ppm (2 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  0.002 ppm (2 ppb)

Major Use: insecticide for crops such as cotton, maize, sugarcane, rice, cereal and ornamentals

Other Uses: grasshopper, vole and mouse control in orchards

Trade Names: Nendrin, EN 57, Endrex, Endricol, Hexadrin, Mendrin, Oktanex, Compound 269

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: tremors, labored breathing, mental confusion, convulsions. Long-term: convulsions and liver tissue damage. 

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.7 ppm (700 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  0.7 ppm (700 ppb

Major Use: to make styrene

Other Uses: solvent for coatings; in making rubber and plastic wrap

Trade Names: Ethylbenzol, Phenylethane

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: tremors, labored breathing, mental confusion, convulsions. Long-term: convulsions and liver tissue damage

Fluoride- an inorganic, nonmetallic halogen element that is isolated as a pale, yellowish, flammable, toxic and diatomic gas

Maximum Contaminant Level:  4 ppm (4000 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  4 ppm (4000 ppb)

Major Use: water additive that promotes strong teeth

Other Uses: metallurgy and pesticides

Potential Health Effects: Bone disease (pain and tenderness of the bones); Children may get mottled teeth.

Giardia Lambia- A protozoan, which can survive in water for 1 to 3 months.

Maximum Contaminant Level:  Treatment Technique: In cases where the EPA has determined it is not technically or economically feasible to establish a Maximum Contaminant Level, they have instead required specific treatment methods to be used to control the level of the contaminant in drinking water.

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline: zero

Potential Health Effects:  Giardiasis, a gastroenteric disease

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.7 ppm (700 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  0.7 ppm (700 ppb)

Major Use: herbicide used to control broadleaf weeds and grasses in hay/pasture, soybeans, field corn, ornamentals, lawns, turf, forest plantings, greenhouses and right of ways

Other Uses: plant growth regulator (when applied at lower rates)

Trade Names: Glialka, Roundup, Sting, Rodeo, Spasor, Muster, Tumbleweed, Sonic, Glifonox, Glycel, Rondo

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: lung congestion; increased breathing rate. Long-term: kidney damage, reproductive effects

Gross Alpha Particle Activity

Radionuclides are elements that are undergoing a process of natural decay.  As they decay, they emit ionizing radiation in the form of alpha or beta particles and gamma photons.  Radiation can cause various forms of cancer.

Maximum Contaminant Level:  15 picocuries per liter (pCi/L)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline: none

Potential Health Effects: Increased risk of cancer

Sources: Erosion of natural deposits

Heptachlor and (Epoxide)- an organic solid that is waxy and white to tan with a camphor-like odor

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.0004 ppm (0.4 ppb) (0.0002 (2 ppb)),

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  zero

Major Use: fire ant control in buried, pad-mounted electrical power transformers and in underground cable television and telephone cable boxes

Other Uses: most other uses were canceled in 1978

Trade Names: Aahepta, Agroceres, Hepta, Heptachlordane, Heptagran, Heptamul, Heptox, Gold Crest H-60, Rhodiachlor, Vesticol-104, Basaklor, Soeptax, Termide

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: liver and central nervous system damage. Long-term: extensive liver damage; cancer. 

Hexachlorobenzene- an organic solid of crystalline needles that are white

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.001 ppm (1 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  zero

Major Use: making other organic compounds like rubber, dyes and wood preservatives

Other Uses: a fungicide on grains, especially wheat

Trade Names: Hexa-CB, HCB, Phenyl perchloryl, Perchlorobenzene, Pentachlorophenyl chloride, Anticarie, Bunt-cure, Co-op hexa, Julin's carbon chloride, No bunt 40, No bunt 80, Sanocide, Snieciotox, Smut-go, Granox nm, Voronit C

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: skin lesions, nerve and liver damage. Long-term: damage to liver and kidneys; reproductive effects; benign tumors of endocrine glands; cancer.

Hexachlorocyclopentadiene- an organic liquid that is yellow-green and oily with a pungent odor

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.05 ppm (50 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  0.05 ppm (50 ppb)

Major Use: as a raw material in manufacturing other chemicals such as pesticides, flame retardants, resins, dyes, pharmaceuticals and plastics

Other Uses: has no other end use of its own

Trade Names: Hex, Hexachloropentadiene

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: gastrointestinal distress; damage to kidneys, liver and heart. Long-term: damage to stomach and kidneys.

Lead- an inorganic metallic element that is bluish-white, heavy, soft, malleable, ductile but inelastic and is found mostly in combination with other elements.

Maximum Contaminant Level: Treatment Technique: In cases where the EPA has determined it is not technically or economically feasible to establish a Maximum Contaminant Level, they have instead required specific treatment methods to be used to control the level of the contaminant in drinking water.

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:   0.015 ppm (15 ppb)

Major Use: pipes, cable sheaths, batteries, solder and shields against radioactivity

Other Uses: household plumbing materials and water service lines

Potential Health Effects:Short- and Long-term effects: Effects may include interference with red blood cell chemistry, delays in normal physical and mental development in babies and young children, deficits in the attention span, hearing, and learning abilities of children, and slight increases in the blood pressure of some adults. Long-term effects: Stroke and kidney disease; cancer.

Legionella- a pathogen of the lower respitory tract

Maximum Contaminant Level:  In cases where the EPA has determined it is not technically or economically feasible to establish a Maximum Contaminant Level, they have instead required specific treatment methods to be used to control the level of the contaminant in drinking water.

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline: zero

Potential Health Effects: Legionnaire's Disease, commonly known as pneumonia

Sources: Found naturally in water; multiplies in heating systems

Lindane- an organic crystalline solid that is white

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.0002 ppm (0.2 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  0.0002 ppm (0.2 ppb)

Major Use: treating wood inhabiting beetles and seeds

Other Uses: flea and lice dip for pets and livestock; for soil treatment on the foliage of fruit and nut trees, vegetables, timber, ornamentals and for wood protection

Trade Names: gamma-Hexachlorocyclohexane, Exagamma, Forlin, Gallogamma, Gammaphex, Inexit, Kwell, Lindagranox, Lindaterra, Lovigram, Silvanol

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: high body temperature and pulmonary edema. Long-term: liver and kidney damage.

Mercury- an inorganic metallic element that is heavy, silver-white, poisonous and is liquid at ordinary temperatures

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.002 ppm (2 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  0.002 ppm (2 ppb)

Major Use: scientific instruments

Other Uses: as a disinfectant and fungicide also in photography and electrical products like dry cell batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, switches and in mining

Potential Health Effects: Short- and/or Long-term exposure: kidney damage.

Methyoxychlor- an organic solid that is colorless with a slightly fruity odor

Maximum Contaminant Level:  0.04 ppm (40 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  0.04 ppm (40 ppb)

Major Use: an insecticide preferred to DDT for use on animals, in animal feed and on DDT sensitive crops such as squash, melons, etc.

Other Uses: control of biting flies, mosquitoes and houseflies

Trade Names: Dimethoxy-DDT, Methoxy-DDT, Chemform, Maralate, Methoxo, Methoxcide, Metox, Moxie

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: central nervous system depression, diarrhea and damage to liver, kidney and heart tissue. Long-term: damage to liver, kidney and heart tissue; retards growth. 

Nitrate- an inorganic salt or ester of nitric acid

Maximum Contaminant Level:  10 ppm (10,000 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  10 ppm (10,000 ppb)

Major Use: fertilizer

Other Uses: in veterinary medicine and explosives

Potential Health Effects:Short-term: Excessive levels of nitrate in drinking water have caused serious illness and sometimes death.  This is a very serious condition for infants up to six month of age.   The disease methemoglobanemia or Blue-Baby disease is due to conversion of nitrate to nitrite by the immature gastrointestinal tract.  Nitrite then interferes with the oxygen-carrying capacity of the child's blood. This can be an acute condition in which health deteriorates rapidly over a period of days. Symptoms include shortness of breath and blueness of the skin.  There is some preliminary evidence suggesting a link between nitrate and gastric cancer in adults.  Long-term: Diuresis, increased starchy deposits and hemorrhaging of the spleen.

Nitrite- an inorganic salt or acid of nitrous acid

Maximum Contaminant Level:  1 ppm (1,000 ppb)

Maximum Contaminant Level Guideline:  1 ppm (1,000 ppb)

Major Use: dye manufacturing and meat preserving

Other Uses:

Potential Health Effects: Short-term: Excessive levels of nitrite in drinking water have caused serious illness and sometimes death. This condition is very serious in infants up to six months of age and is known as methemoglobanemia or Blue-Baby syndrome. Nitrite interferes with the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood and can lead to an acute condition in which health deteriorates rapidly over a period of days. Symptoms include shortness of breath and blueness of the skin. Long-term: Diuresis, increased starchy deposits and hemorrhaging of the spleen.