Chloromethane

Status: No national drinking water standard exists

Chloromethane is an industrial solvent, aerosol propellant and a refrigerant. It also forms as a byproduct of water disinfection. The EPA classifies chloromethane as possibly carcinogenic to humans.

2013-2019:

FOUND

FOUND ABOVE HEALTH GUIDELINES

states detected

1,077

utilities detected

17 million

people served

states over health guideline

utilities over health guideline

115,000

people served over health guideline

Health concerns for chloromethane

Cancer

State and national drinking water standards and health guidelines

EWG Health Guideline 2.69 ppb

The EWG Health Guideline of 2.69 ppb for chloromethane was defined by the Environmental Protection Agency as a benchmark for testing under the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule program. This health guideline protects against cancer.

ppb = parts per billion

States reporting chloromethane in drinking water

	UTILITIES REPORTING ABOVE HEALTH GUIDELINES			UTILITIES WITH CONTAMINATION
State	Utilities	People Served		Utilities	People Served
Texas		6	7,661			224	4,940,441
California		0	0			82	3,468,528
Maryland		24	17,622			70	1,808,908
Florida		0	0			27	1,404,777
Alabama		1	3,120			21	789,627
New York		3	622			93	645,823
Massachusetts		1	3,167			35	613,971
Wisconsin		2	1,353			98	545,264
Illinois		0	0			29	535,274
Connecticut		1	265			42	317,878
New Jersey		3	42,260			32	250,985
Washington		2	240			51	200,709
Indiana		0	0			31	172,226
North Carolina		0	0			14	167,045
Louisiana		0	0			15	155,471
Mississippi		0	0			11	141,319
Nebraska		1	809			53	123,438
Utah		1	33,000			3	107,750
South Carolina		0	0			6	77,139
Tennessee		0	0			2	64,683
Georgia		0	0			25	58,444
Ohio		0	0			11	58,303
Kentucky		0	0			4	49,136
Delaware		0	0			8	42,153
Arkansas		0	0			30	41,411
Pennsylvania		0	0			5	28,413
Minnesota		2	998			11	27,810
Oregon		0	0			5	24,280
Nevada		0	0			3	10,048
Virginia		0	0			2	9,872
Vermont		0	0			5	8,138
Wyoming		0	0			10	5,845
Iowa		1	353			7	2,495
Kansas		1	1,662			1	1,662
Missouri		2	1,658			2	1,658
Michigan		0	0			4	1,645
West Virginia		0	0			1	737
New Hampshire		0	0			2	675
Montana		0	0			2	580

LESS

Filtering technologies that reduce chloromethane

Utilities with the highest amounts of chloromethane, 2013-2019

ALL UTILITIES

LARGE UTILITIES

Utility	Location	Tests	Average level	People served
Stover PWS	Stover, MO	1 of 3	51.7 ppb	1,623
Bradford Estates	Frederick, MD	1 of 1	19.7 ppb	178
Naval Support Facility, Indian Head	Indian Head, MD	1 of 1	18.7 ppb	3,321
Marlboro State Hospital	Titusville, NJ	1 of 6	17.8 ppb	400
Truesdale Lake P.o.a.	South Salem, NY	1 of 4	17.3 ppb	400
Barrelville	Mt. Savage, MD	1 of 2	15.2 ppb	130
Libertytown East	Frederick, MD	1 of 1	15.0 ppb	140
Knolls of Windsor	Frederick, MD	1 of 1	14.8 ppb	1,553
Libertytown Apartments	Frederick, MD	1 of 1	14.5 ppb	97
Route 66 Homes	Cuba, MO	1 of 7	11.7 ppb	35
Minatare, City of	Minatare, NE	4 of 12	10.8 ppb	809
White Rock	Frederick, MD	1 of 2	9.77 ppb	256
Town of Deer Park	Mountain Lake Park, MD	1 of 1	9.55 ppb	272
Lake Livingston Branchwood	Livingston, TX	4 of 5	9.32 ppb	55
Deer Lodge Mobile Home Park	Herndon, MD	1 of 1	9.18 ppb	87
Woodland Trailer Park	Martinsburg, MD	2 of 2	8.08 ppb	65
Town of Woodsboro	Woodsboro, MD	3 of 4	7.77 ppb	846
City of Giddings*	Giddings, TX	10 of 11	7.31 ppb	7,428
Westwood Villa Apartments	Blanco, TX	10 of 11	7.31 ppb	70
Mount Aetna	Williamsport, MD	1 of 1	7.26 ppb	688
Mercer County Correctional Center	Trenton, NJ	1 of 6	7.20 ppb	860
Town of Luke / Newpage Luke Mill	Luke, MD	1 of 2	7.16 ppb	68
Susan Circle Community Ws	Vidor, TX	4 of 5	6.76 ppb	28
Deer Creek	Deer Creek, MN	1 of 2	6.00 ppb	322
Connecticut Water Company - Banner Village	Clinton, CT	1 of 6	5.67 ppb	265
Meadow Park Mobile Subdivision	Baltimore, MD	1 of 1	5.13 ppb	32
Town of Kitzmiller	Mountain Lake Park, MD	2 of 2	5.01 ppb	370
Cherry Blossom Est Mobile Home Park	Napavine, WA	8 of 9	4.95 ppb	200
Midland-lonaconing	Lonaconing, MD	3 of 16	4.73 ppb	2,500
Sam Hill Estates	Frederick, MD	1 of 3	4.26 ppb	1,036
Sebeka	Sebeka, MN	1 of 1	4.20 ppb	676
Town of Pittsville	Pittsville, MD	1 of 1	4.20 ppb	1,500
Town of Willards	Willards, MD	6 of 6	4.19 ppb	940
North Brunswick W Department*	Somerset, NJ	1 of 10	4.16 ppb	41,000
Douglass, City of	Douglass, KS	2 of 5	4.08 ppb	1,662
White Oak Mobile Home Park	Swanton, MD	1 of 2	3.92 ppb	32
Cascade Waterworks	Cascade, WI	6 of 8	3.70 ppb	703
Sandy Hook	Williamsport, MD	1 of 1	3.60 ppb	220
Alpine Manor Home For Adults	Lima, NY	5 of 5	3.34 ppb	36
Midlothian Water Company	Midlothian, MD	1 of 1	3.30 ppb	300
Williams Water Supply	Williams, IA	23 of 23	3.30 ppb	353
Lakeside Water	Kennard, TX	2 of 3	3.27 ppb	50
Highfield	Williamsport, MD	2 of 4	3.21 ppb	1,141
J & R Mobile Home Park	Bastrop, TX	5 of 5	3.20 ppb	30
Town of Oakland	Oakland, MD	2 of 4	3.11 ppb	1,850
Nectar Water System	Cleveland, AL	2 of 2	3.10 ppb	3,120
Belchertown Water District	Belchertown, MA	3 of 3	3.09 ppb	3,167
Woodglen Prd Water System	Oak Harbor, WA	7 of 12	2.84 ppb	40
Greenleaf Waterworks	Greenleaf, WI	12 of 13	2.79 ppb	650
Midvale City Water System	Midvale, UT	2 of 32	2.79 ppb	33,000

* This water utility supplies finished drinking water to at least one other water utility. The purchasing utility is not required to test for or report Chloromethane, but it likely has the contaminant in its water supply.

Utility	Location	Tests	Average level	People served
North Brunswick W Department*	Somerset, NJ	1 of 10	4.16 ppb	41,000
Midvale City Water System	Midvale, UT	2 of 32	2.79 ppb	33,000
Olivehurst Public UD	Olivehurst, CA	2 of 4	2.45 ppb	13,738
Tewksbury Water Department	Tewksbury, MA	3 of 33	2.28 ppb	30,435
Layton City Water System	Layton, UT	1 of 11	2.05 ppb	74,660
City of Grandview	Grandview, WA	2 of 16	1.91 ppb	11,010
Methuen Water Department*	Methuen, MA	3 of 7	1.14 ppb	50,259
City of Newberg*	Newberg, OR	1 of 2	1.10 ppb	23,795
South Elgin	South Elgin, IL	3 of 12	1.04 ppb	22,549
Golden State Water Company (GSWC) - Southwest	Gardena, CA	6 of 24	0.978 ppb	271,677
City of Alvin*	Alvin, TX	9 of 22	0.750 ppb	24,000
Wakefield Water Department (MWRA)	Wakefield, MA	1 of 9	0.667 ppb	24,932
NAWA*	Tipp City, OH	1 of 6	0.662 ppb	24,766
City of Galena Park	Galena Park, TX	2 of 19	0.642 ppb	10,089
Galveston County WCID 1	Dickinson, TX	4 of 33	0.561 ppb	29,280
Billerica Water Works	Billerica, MA	1 of 22	0.509 ppb	40,243
City of Deer Park	Deer Park, TX	3 of 26	0.492 ppb	32,964
North Attleboro Water Department*	North Attleborough, MA	3 of 45	0.489 ppb	28,712
City of Greenville	Greenville, MS	15 of 18	0.464 ppb	31,517
New Design - Frederick County*	Frederick, MD	2 of 10	0.419 ppb	49,200
City of Beaumont Water Utility Department*	Beaumont, TX	2 of 17	0.412 ppb	118,129
Saratoga Springs City*	Saratoga Springs, NY	9 of 31	0.393 ppb	35,900
City of San Jacinto	San Jacinto, CA	1 of 14	0.379 ppb	14,435
City of Corcoran	Corcoran, CA	2 of 17	0.376 ppb	24,813
Jackson County Water Utility*	Brownstown, IN	1 of 4	0.350 ppb	13,050
City of Plant City Utility*	Plant City, FL	6 of 8	0.333 ppb	36,889
Crystal Lake	Crystal Lake, IL	2 of 8	0.318 ppb	40,743
City of Baltimore*	Baltimore, MD	5 of 15	0.311 ppb	1,600,000
City of Jacinto City	Jacinto City, TX	1 of 9	0.278 ppb	10,625
Town of Ocean City	Ocean City, MD	3 of 5	0.276 ppb	30,000
Elgin*	Elgin, IL	2 of 4	0.275 ppb	108,188
Aqua Illinois - Kankakee*	Kankakee, IL	1 of 4	0.275 ppb	80,275
North Peninsula*	Poulsbo, WA	4 of 19	0.268 ppb	12,738
Lomita Water Department	Lomita, CA	2 of 8	0.249 ppb	20,256
City of Orange	Orange, TX	5 of 15	0.238 ppb	18,643
Orange County Utilities Department (OCUD) - West*	Orlando, FL	4 of 8	0.235 ppb	179,771
Crowley Water System (LAWCO)	Baton Rouge, LA	1 of 2	0.235 ppb	19,000
City of Clermont	Clermont, FL	3 of 6	0.233 ppb	11,628
City of La Porte	La Porte, TX	3 of 47	0.223 ppb	34,733
City of Pasadena*	Pasadena, TX	4 of 59	0.222 ppb	153,000
City of Frostburg*	Frostburg, MD	1 of 7	0.214 ppb	11,000
Eastern Bartholomew Water*	Taylorsville, IN	1 of 8	0.213 ppb	13,547
Wilmington Water Department	Wilmington, MA	6 of 22	0.201 ppb	22,325
City of Gautier	Gautier, MS	5 of 14	0.200 ppb	18,572
Linda County Water District	Marysville, CA	3 of 13	0.195 ppb	13,800
Central	Winter Haven, FL	2 of 9	0.188 ppb	13,595
Cary	Cary, IL	4 of 16	0.185 ppb	18,271
City of Cumberland*	Cumberland, MD	1 of 7	0.184 ppb	27,039
Northwest Utilities*	Tampa, FL	3 of 12	0.183 ppb	202,326
Martinsville Water Utility	Martinsville, IN	3 of 22	0.182 ppb	15,000