Dichloroacetic acid

Status: No national drinking water standard exists

Dichloroacetic acid, one of the group of five haloacetic acids regulated by federal standards, is formed when chlorine or other disinfectants are used to treat drinking water. Haloacetic acids and other disinfection byproducts increase the risk of cancer and may cause problems during pregnancy. Click here to read more about disinfection byproducts.

2017-2019:

FOUND

FOUND ABOVE HEALTH GUIDELINES

states detected

19,820

utilities detected

208 million

people served

states over health guideline

19,506

utilities over health guideline

204 million

people served over health guideline

Health concerns for dichloroacetic acid

Cancer

Harm to reproduction and child development

State and national drinking water standards and health guidelines

EWG Health Guideline 0.2 ppb

The EWG Health Guideline of 0.2 ppb for dichloroacetic acid was proposed in 2020 by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment as a public health goal, the level of a drinking water contaminant that does not pose a significant health risk.a one-in-a-million lifetime risk of cancer. Values greater than one-in-a-million cancer risk level can result in increased cancer cases above one in a million people.

ppb = parts per billion

States reporting dichloroacetic acid in drinking water

	UTILITIES REPORTING ABOVE HEALTH GUIDELINES			UTILITIES WITH CONTAMINATION
State	Utilities	People Served		Utilities	People Served
California		907	29,324,037			958	30,848,967
Texas		2,313	24,933,973			2,342	25,226,957
New York		1,084	17,610,917			1,093	17,687,899
Illinois		1,323	11,745,587			1,330	11,813,175
Pennsylvania		978	10,804,172			982	10,815,794
Ohio		905	9,782,658			924	9,846,454
Georgia		481	8,458,348			496	8,724,274
New Jersey		374	8,273,590			397	8,540,445
North Carolina		802	8,331,520			806	8,344,112
Colorado		486	5,903,985			489	5,914,892
Virginia		547	5,819,633			551	5,825,309
Massachusetts		235	5,489,276			239	5,581,991
Washington		513	4,825,011			523	5,153,615
Louisiana		907	4,882,699			939	4,938,966
Missouri		691	4,695,600			694	4,759,689
Minnesota		542	3,898,096			544	3,933,321
South Carolina		341	3,859,143			343	3,877,952
Wisconsin		460	3,593,357			502	3,752,233
Oklahoma		583	3,321,265			585	3,322,762
Michigan		307	2,731,034			309	2,781,555
Utah		163	2,590,629			166	2,653,414
Arkansas		560	2,641,152			561	2,649,292
Nevada		44	2,616,979			47	2,639,059
Iowa		728	2,463,883			741	2,555,783
Connecticut		180	2,353,409			180	2,353,409
Kansas		712	1,728,306			725	1,765,918
Mississippi		470	1,740,149			470	1,740,149
New Mexico		173	1,458,930			193	1,645,003
West Virginia		387	1,523,262			387	1,523,262
Nebraska		73	1,100,162			75	1,152,462
Delaware		108	881,059			110	914,069
Hawaii		22	221,825			23	853,214
New Hampshire		125	655,426			128	686,906
North Dakota		263	661,302			263	661,302
Alaska		159	593,854			159	593,854
Rhode Island		29	547,071			29	547,071
Montana		192	458,530			192	460,455
Vermont		105	356,302			105	356,302
Wyoming		127	324,889			117	321,360
Maine		70	279,916			70	279,916
Kentucky		6	166,510			4	70,859
Maryland		14	53,577			14	53,577
Alabama		4	38,007			4	38,007
Idaho		7	2,522			7	2,522
Indiana		1	1,350			1	1,350
Tennessee		1	1,075			1	1,075
South Dakota		4	2,306			2	746

LESS

Filtering technologies that reduce dichloroacetic acid

Utilities with the highest amounts of dichloroacetic acid, 2017-2019

ALL UTILITIES

LARGE UTILITIES

Utility	Location	Tests	Average level	People served
Vallenar View Mobile Home Park	Ketchikan, AK	11 of 11	96.1 ppb	225
Hudson Gaars Mill Water System	Dodson, LA	84 of 84	91.6 ppb	660
Vixen Water System West	Chatham, LA	96 of 96	68.7 ppb	288
Sandy Point 480 Water System	Campti, LA	68 of 80	67.4 ppb	675
Vixen Water System East	Chatham, LA	72 of 72	66.8 ppb	486
City of Nome	Nome, TX	46 of 47	64.7 ppb	602
Hickory Hills Mobile Home Community	Bath, PA	2 of 4	62.6 ppb	800
Fairview Union Water System*	Coushatta, LA	98 of 100	60.9 ppb	2,205
Elk City, City of	Elk City, KS	23 of 23	60.0 ppb	294
City of Huxley	Shelbyville, TX	46 of 46	57.6 ppb	2,290
Lakewood Water System	Lufkin, TX	23 of 23	55.4 ppb	42
Osage County Rural Water District 8	Burlingame, KS	1 of 1	55.0 ppb	2,240
Tatitlek Water System	Tatitlek, AK	11 of 11	54.5 ppb	95
Red Gate Mobile Home Park	Port Orchard, WA	7 of 7	53.8 ppb	23
Orient Water Company	Tonasket, WA	25 of 25	53.1 ppb	85
Shawnee County Rural Water District 3c*	Topeka, KS	12 of 12	50.7 ppb	2,675
Severy, City of	Severy, KS	21 of 21	49.9 ppb	230
Wawayanda Wd #1	Slate Hill, NY	1 of 1	49.0 ppb	850
Middletown City*	Middletown, NY	1 of 1	49.0 ppb	30,850
Cloverhill 3 - Consecutive To Md0100015	Frederick, MD	2 of 2	46.4 ppb	888
City of Strawn	Strawn, TX	22 of 24	46.2 ppb	696
Philmont Boy Scout Ranch - Headquarters	Cimarron, NM	41 of 41	45.2 ppb	2,000
East Columbia Water System	Columbia, LA	52 of 52	45.1 ppb	2,640
Bellwood Water System	Provencal, LA	52 of 52	43.4 ppb	981
Beechwood Water Supply Corporation	Hemphill, TX	34 of 34	42.9 ppb	1,372
Lowndes County-spring Creek S/d	Valdosta, GA	48 of 48	42.9 ppb	2,959
Ryan Utilities Authority	Ryan, OK	48 of 48	42.4 ppb	800
Asher Utility Dev Authority	Asher, OK	24 of 24	41.5 ppb	375
West Wise Special Utility District*	Bridgeport, TX	47 of 47	41.3 ppb	3,354
Buckland Water System	Buckland, AK	15 of 15	41.1 ppb	461
Jackson Township Water Authority	Johnstown, PA	16 of 17	40.8 ppb	3,198
Alberta Water System	Castor, LA	80 of 96	40.7 ppb	1,860
Carthage, Town of	Carthage, NC	47 of 47	40.5 ppb	4,216
Oil City Water Works	Oil City, LA	100 of 104	39.9 ppb	2,199
Bethlehem Village District	Bethlehem, NH	16 of 16	39.7 ppb	1,700
Barnsdall*	Barnsdall, OK	43 of 43	39.6 ppb	1,243
Crescent Bay Improvement Company	Lower Lake, CA	22 of 22	39.3 ppb	55
Tullahassee Water	Tullahassee, OK	24 of 24	39.1 ppb	106
Canyon Crest Mutual Benefit Water Company	Arroyo Grande, CA	3 of 3	39.0 ppb	125
Osage County Rural Water District # 20 (hulah)	Bartlesville, OK	24 of 24	38.9 ppb	350
Country Hill Estates	Poughkeepsie, NY	2 of 3	38.7 ppb	236
Wanette Public Works Authority	Wanette, OK	23 of 23	38.4 ppb	402
Terra Bella Irrigation District - Tbt	Terra Bella, CA	48 of 48	37.8 ppb	2,340
Mount Idy Mobile Home Park	Parkesburg, PA	1 of 1	37.4 ppb	80
Metro Topeka Airport Authority	Topeka, KS	23 of 23	37.3 ppb	500
Cleveland Municipal Authority	Cleveland, OK	48 of 48	37.2 ppb	3,262
Sa#16 Sumner Hill-water System	Madera, CA	23 of 25	36.8 ppb	128
Fcsa #30/el Porvenir	Fresno, CA	24 of 24	36.0 ppb	130
Tupper Lake V	Tupper Lake, NY	43 of 46	35.3 ppb	5,500
Kincaid, City of	Kincaid, KS	17 of 17	35.2 ppb	117

* 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 Dichloroacetic acid, but it likely has the contaminant in its water supply.

Utility	Location	Tests	Average level	People served
Middletown City*	Middletown, NY	1 of 1	49.0 ppb	30,850
Orangeburg DPU*	Orangeburg, SC	96 of 96	34.8 ppb	41,440
Bloomfield Water Department	Bloomfield, NJ	96 of 96	32.6 ppb	47,315
North Monroe Et Al Water System	West Monroe, LA	116 of 128	31.7 ppb	10,866
Lakeshore Swartz Water System	West Monroe, LA	134 of 144	30.6 ppb	11,330
Okmulgee*	Okmulgee, OK	99 of 100	29.3 ppb	13,495
City of Beeville	Beeville, TX	92 of 96	28.9 ppb	15,039
City of Port Neches	Port Neches, TX	95 of 96	27.9 ppb	13,040
Natchitoches Water System*	Natchitoches, LA	216 of 216	27.7 ppb	30,000
Joint Base Anacostia - Bolling	Washington, DC	1 of 1	26.6 ppb	16,559
Claremore*	Claremore, OK	105 of 105	26.4 ppb	15,873
City of Ottawa*	Ottawa, KS	96 of 96	26.3 ppb	12,267
East Cedar Creek FWSD Brookshire	Mabank, TX	95 of 96	25.9 ppb	13,254
City of Groves	Groves, TX	100 of 100	25.9 ppb	15,967
Morrisville Munic Authority*	Morrisville, PA	48 of 48	25.6 ppb	13,342
Muskogee*	Muskogee, OK	196 of 196	25.3 ppb	38,310
Bolivar Peninsula SUD	Crystal Beach, TX	96 of 96	25.3 ppb	17,328
City of Asheboro*	Asheboro, NC	96 of 96	25.2 ppb	25,791
Lamar County Water Supply District*	Paris, TX	96 of 96	25.0 ppb	22,269
Naval Station Washington - WNY	Washington Navy Yard, DC	1 of 1	24.5 ppb	15,690
Shreveport Water System*	Shreveport, LA	402 of 404	24.5 ppb	201,000
Monroe Water System*	Monroe, LA	536 of 546	24.3 ppb	52,572
Niles City PWS*	Niles, OH	100 of 101	24.3 ppb	20,684
Town of Smithfield*	Smithfield, NC	96 of 96	24.2 ppb	12,400
Warren City PWS*	Cortland, OH	96 of 96	24.1 ppb	46,832
Walnut Creek SUD*	Springtown, TX	96 of 96	23.9 ppb	23,118
Appalachian State Univ WTP	Boone, NC	103 of 103	23.7 ppb	11,150
City of Paris*	Paris, TX	96 of 96	23.6 ppb	25,498
Baldwin County	Milledgeville, GA	96 of 96	23.6 ppb	23,067
Newark Water Department*	Newark, NJ	278 of 288	23.5 ppb	294,274
Holyoke Water Works	Holyoke, MA	60 of 60	23.5 ppb	40,124
Barrow County Boc Transmission Mains*	Winder, GA	87 of 88	23.5 ppb	39,000
Lafourche Water District 1	Lockport, LA	384 of 384	23.1 ppb	78,760
Clear Lake City Water Authority*	Houston, TX	192 of 192	23.1 ppb	85,392
Newburgh Consolidated WD*	Newburgh, NY	1 of 1	23.0 ppb	26,313
City of Mabank*	Mabank, TX	96 of 96	22.7 ppb	11,349
City of League City	League City, TX	192 of 192	22.7 ppb	104,857
Thibodaux Waterworks	Thibodaux, LA	216 of 216	22.6 ppb	15,810
Aqua Pa Roaring Creek Division	Shamokin, PA	60 of 63	22.6 ppb	43,000
City of Baytown*	Baytown, TX	192 of 192	22.5 ppb	72,312
Stanford University	Stanford, CA	183 of 183	22.5 ppb	29,635
Texarkana Water Utilities*	Texarkana, AR	91 of 92	22.4 ppb	30,015
Harrisburg*	Harrisburg, NC	96 of 96	22.4 ppb	17,127
Maryville*	Maryville, MO	96 of 96	22.4 ppb	11,972
East Jefferson Waterworks District 1	Jefferson, LA	1704 of 1,704	22.3 ppb	243,782
Watertown City*	Watertown, NY	275 of 275	22.2 ppb	29,406
Thomas Hill PWSD 1*	Moberly, MO	48 of 48	22.2 ppb	10,315
City of Albemarle*	Albemarle, NC	96 of 96	22.2 ppb	17,874
Aqua Pa Shenango Valley WTP*	Sharon, PA	48 of 48	22.1 ppb	48,000
Belle Chasse Water District	Belle Chasse, LA	202 of 204	22.0 ppb	17,391