Water: Drinking Water Standards
Drinking WaterDrinking Water StandardsDrinking Water Science and Regulatory SupportDrinking Water Science and Regulatory Support
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- Drinking Water Standards and Health Advisories Tables
- Human Health Benchmarks for Pesticides
- Estimated Per Capita Water Ingestion in the United States
- Chemical Contaminants
- Microbiological Contaminants
Drinking Water Standards and Health Advisories Tables
These tables summarize the drinking water regulations and health advisory values as well as the reference dose (RFD) and cancer risk values for drinking water contaminants.
Drinking water and health advisory summary tables are prepared periodically. They contain drinking water standards in the form of non-enforceable concentrations of drinking water contaminants, Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLGs), or enforceable Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Maximum Contaminant Levels are the maximum permissible level of a contaminant in water delivered to users of a public water system. Health Advisories (HAs) provide information on contaminants that can cause human health effects and are known or anticipated to occur in drinking water. Health Advisories are guidance values based on non-cancer health effects for different durations of exposure (e.g., one-day, ten-day, and lifetime). They provide technical guidance to our Regional Offices, State governments, and other public health officials on health effects, analytical methodologies, and treatment technologies associated with drinking water contamination.
In the 2012 tables, EPA introduced a new policy of calculating lifetime health advisories for all drinking water contaminants, regardless of their carcinogenicity status. By making non-cancer benchmarks available, EPA is providing risk assessment managers values they can compare with the cancer risk level drinking water concentration (10-4 cancer risk) to determine which number provides a more meaningful scenario-specific risk reduction. EPA defines the lifetime health advisories as the concentration in drinking water that is not expected to cause any adverse non-carcinogenic effects for a lifetime of exposure. The 10 4 cancer risk is the concentration of the chemical contaminant in drinking water that is associated with a specific probability of cancer. EPA advises consideration of the more conservative cancer risk levels (10-5 or 10-6), found in the IRIS or RED source documents, if risk assessment managers consider them more appropriate for exposure-specific risk assessment.
2012 Drinking Water Standards and Health Advisories tables (PDF) (20 pp, 359K; EPA 822-S-12-001)
Archived tables
- 2011 Drinking Water Standards and Health Advisories tables (PDF) (18 pp, 721K; EPA 820-R-11-002)
- 2009 Drinking Water Standards and Health Advisories tables (PDF) (18 pp, 430K; EPA 822-R-09-011)
- 2006 | Print Version (PDF) (18 pp, 85K; EPA 822-R-06-013)
- 2004 (PDF) (20 pp, 132K; EPA 822-R-04-005)
- 2002
- 2000
- 1996
- 1994
Human Health Benchmarks for Pesticides
EPA has developed human health benchmarks for approximately 350 pesticides to enable our partners to better determine whether the detection of a pesticide in drinking water or source waters for drinking water may indicate a potential health risk.
Estimated Per Capita Water Ingestion in the United States
Drinking Water Health Advisories: Estimated Per Capita Water Ingestion in the United States - 2004
This report provides current estimates of water ingestion and body weight for the population of the U.S. and selected subpopulations including pregnant women, lactating women and women of child-bearing age.
Chemical Contaminants
Regulatory Support Documents
- Acanthamoeba
- (Related: Eye infections)
- Aldrin and Dieldrin (PDF) (61 pp, 729K)
- Boron
- Dacthal and its Degradates
- 1,1,-dichloro-2,2,-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (DDE)
- 1,3 dichloropropene (Telone)
- S-Ethyl Dipropylthiocarbamate (EPTC)
- Fonofos
- Hexachlorobutadiene (PDF) (57 pp, 722K)
- Manganese (PDF) (52 pp, 115K)
- Metribuzin (PDF) (59 pp, 258K)
- Naphthalene (PDF) (56 pp, 353K)
- Terbacil
- 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane
- Brominated Trihalomethanes
Health and Drinking Water Advisories for Chemical Contaminants
- Boron: Health Advisory and Summary
- Dacthal and Dacthal Degradates: Health Advisory and Summary
- 2,4- and 2,6- Dinitrotoluene: Health Advisory
- Manganese: Drinking Water Advisory (PDF) (55 pp, 148K)
- Methyl tertiary-Butyl ether (MtBE): Drinking Water Advisory
- Oxamyl: Health Advisory (PDF) (36 pp, 118K)
- Perchlorate: Interim Health Advisory
- Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS): Provisional Health Advisory (PDF) (5 pp, 161K) | More on PFOA
- Sodium: Drinking Water Advisory (PDF) (34 pp, 123K)
- Sulfate: Drinking Water Advisory (PDF) (34 pp, 127K)
- 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane: Health Advisory and Summary
Microbiological Contaminants
Regulatory Support Documents for Microbiological Contaminants
Criteria documents and guidance for drinking water contaminants provide information so preliminary decisions can be made as to whether the contaminant is a significant health threat via drinking water exposure and whether sufficient data exists to perform quantitative risk assessments.
- Aeromonas (PDF) (198 pp, 764K, March 2006)
- Cryptosporidium (PDF) (146 pp, 1.1MB, March 2001)
- Legionella (PDF) (123 pp, 821K, November 1999)
- Giardia (PDF) (292 pp, 701K, August 1998)
- Bacteria (PDF) (24 pp, 155K; 1986)
Children's Risk
- Legionella (PDF) (13 pp, 506K, November 1999)
- Giardia (PDF) (73 pp, 697K, August 1999)
Health Advisories for Microbiological Contaminants
Health Advisories serve as informal technical guidance to assist federal, state, and local officials responsible for protecting public health when emergency spills or contamination situations occur. They are not to be construed as legally enforceable federal standards. The Health Advisories are subject to change as new information becomes available.
- Cryptosporidium (PDF) (31 pp, 1.0MB, March 2001)
- Legionella (PDF) (27 pp, 608K, March 2001)
- Giardia (PDF) (42 pp, 727K, November 1999)
- Mycobacteria (PDF) (35 pp, 978K, August 1999)
Fact Sheets
- Mycobacteria (PDF) (4 pp, 21K, March 2002)
- Giardia (PDF) (5 pp, 77K, September 2000)
- Legionella (PDF) (3 pp, 17K, September 2000)