Dibromochloromethane

Status: No national drinking water standard exists

Dibromochloromethane, one of the total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), is formed when chlorine or other disinfectants are used to treat drinking water. Dibromochloromethane 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

23,996

utilities detected

227 million

people served

states over health guideline

23,478

utilities over health guideline

217 million

people served over health guideline

Health concerns for dibromochloromethane

Cancer

Harm to fetal growth and development

State and national drinking water standards and health guidelines

EWG Health Guideline 0.1 ppb

The EWG Health Guideline of 0.1 ppb for dibromochloromethane was proposed in 2018 by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment as 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 dibromochloromethane in drinking water

	UTILITIES REPORTING ABOVE HEALTH GUIDELINES			UTILITIES WITH CONTAMINATION
State	Utilities	People Served		Utilities	People Served
California		1,194	31,276,327			1,229	32,463,548
Texas		3,466	26,833,439			3,489	27,032,073
New York		1,269	16,562,090			1,320	19,268,688
Illinois		1,281	11,531,369			1,294	11,803,781
Pennsylvania		1,290	10,620,439			1,308	10,999,425
Ohio		1,045	9,978,198			1,046	9,980,223
Georgia		729	8,694,488			768	8,827,500
New Jersey		456	8,739,031			473	8,771,271
North Carolina		709	7,725,667			731	8,006,779
Virginia		577	6,356,910			594	6,407,054
Massachusetts		299	5,725,579			307	5,791,991
Colorado		607	5,163,762			618	5,337,932
Washington		724	3,170,265			744	4,687,755
Alabama		265	4,459,565			274	4,676,345
Tennessee		227	4,336,185			221	4,514,354
Louisiana		813	3,985,442			833	4,140,735
Missouri		681	3,469,320			690	3,832,044
Wisconsin		454	3,597,908			470	3,779,544
Michigan		499	3,553,172			503	3,564,107
Oklahoma		739	3,533,193			751	3,553,846
South Carolina		314	3,365,168			318	3,427,014
Minnesota		406	2,890,897			422	3,137,818
Utah		246	2,859,113			256	2,928,100
Nevada		96	2,740,535			99	2,748,647
Arkansas		460	2,280,586			570	2,719,607
Connecticut		227	2,227,139			232	2,664,004
Maryland		162	2,644,344			162	2,644,344
Kansas		796	2,389,341			798	2,406,124
Iowa		665	2,295,498			665	2,295,498
Indiana		95	2,087,742			93	2,059,642
New Mexico		338	1,888,519			341	1,895,365
Mississippi		341	1,408,149			343	1,565,649
West Virginia		370	1,512,640			382	1,533,169
Hawaii		66	458,280			70	1,340,108
Nebraska		145	1,278,808			146	1,283,287
Delaware		110	957,631			114	977,921
Arizona		122	797,025			122	797,025
New Hampshire		232	715,430			240	748,930
Rhode Island		36	531,699			37	606,699
North Dakota		229	581,924			229	581,924
Montana		206	459,740			208	484,941
Wyoming		170	318,453			160	314,924
Idaho		15	310,018			15	310,018
Vermont		157	152,968			159	168,968
Alaska		87	119,659			91	134,689
Maine		50	96,301			52	111,621
Kentucky		9	203,281			7	107,630
South Dakota		4	2,306			2	746

LESS

Filtering technologies that reduce dibromochloromethane

Utilities with the highest amounts of dibromochloromethane, 2017-2019

ALL UTILITIES

LARGE UTILITIES

Utility	Location	Tests	Average level	People served
Village of Calvin Water System	Calvin, LA	96 of 102	135.2 ppb	591
Pleasant Hills-crossroads Water Systems	Joyce, LA	102 of 106	130.5 ppb	840
Concord Water System	Marion, LA	96 of 96	104.9 ppb	426
Wards Chapel Water System	Farmerville, LA	92 of 98	86.4 ppb	1,350
Country Estates Water System South	West Monroe, LA	20 of 20	84.5 ppb	600
Walnut Ridge Estates Water System	Zavala, TX	28 of 29	83.7 ppb	134
Highway 84 West Water Supply	Winnfield, LA	84 of 92	78.8 ppb	499
Mountain Park Public Works Authority	Mountain Park, OK	24 of 24	77.8 ppb	473
Village of Georgetown Water Supply	Georgetown, LA	92 of 96	74.5 ppb	302
La Playa Subdivision Water System	Kirbyville, TX	18 of 18	67.9 ppb	59
Turtle Cove Lot Owners Association	Freeport, TX	29 of 29	67.6 ppb	66
Litroe Water System	Marion, LA	96 of 96	66.4 ppb	369
City of Paint Rock	Paint Rock, TX	28 of 28	64.3 ppb	273
Chatham Water System	Chatham, LA	88 of 100	63.8 ppb	1,137
Backwood Village Water System	Saline, LA	66 of 72	63.1 ppb	783
Red Hill Waterworks Inc.*	Georgetown, LA	96 of 96	62.7 ppb	1,872
Edenton, Town of	Edenton, NC	45 of 45	62.1 ppb	5,500
Jones Mcginty Water System	Jones, LA	98 of 98	62.1 ppb	801
Commodore Cove Improvement District	Freeport, TX	30 of 30	59.9 ppb	495
East Columbia Water System	Columbia, LA	38 of 52	59.8 ppb	2,640
Sardis Water System	Gilbert, LA	96 of 102	58.0 ppb	1,404
Pappas & Company (mendota)	Mendota, CA	23 of 24	55.9 ppb	25
Millersview-doole Water Supply Corporation*	Millersview, TX	54 of 59	55.6 ppb	3,987
Chesapeake Shores	Rockville, VA	4 of 4	55.5 ppb	56
Wildwood Mobile Home Park Ws	West Monroe, LA	64 of 72	54.9 ppb	72
Darbonne Ws South	Bernice, LA	68 of 68	54.4 ppb	3,054
Robinson Chapel Water System	West Monroe, LA	52 of 52	53.8 ppb	180
Ramsey Water System	West Monroe, LA	66 of 72	52.7 ppb	60
Indiahoma Public Works Authority	Indiahoma, OK	21 of 24	51.4 ppb	350
Darling Water Association	Darling, MS	1 of 1	50.3 ppb	240
Hidden Oaks Subdivision Ws	West Monroe, LA	62 of 72	48.6 ppb	315
Dubach Water System	Dubach, LA	96 of 96	48.2 ppb	1,218
Linville-haile Water System	Marion, LA	94 of 96	48.0 ppb	1,635
Lincoln Hills Subdivision Ws	West Monroe, LA	68 of 76	47.9 ppb	150
Watchtower Bible Tract Society	Patterson, NY	5 of 5	47.7 ppb	1,501
Town of Friars Point	Friars Point, MS	2 of 2	47.3 ppb	1,200
Olustee Public Water Supply	Olustee, OK	48 of 48	47.2 ppb	607
Coke County Water Supply Corporation	Robert Lee, TX	45 of 46	47.1 ppb	400
Comanche County Rural Water District #4*	Cache, OK	44 of 44	46.9 ppb	3,000
Fcsa #49/ Five Points	Fresno, CA	22 of 22	45.8 ppb	122
Huron, City of	Huron, CA	45 of 45	45.7 ppb	7,306
Fcsa #30/el Porvenir	Fresno, CA	24 of 24	44.4 ppb	130
Pecan Lake Subdivision Ws	West Monroe, LA	60 of 72	43.5 ppb	57
City of San Luis	San Luis, AZ	1 of 1	42.5 ppb	27,800
Bowbells, City of	Bowbells, ND	12 of 12	42.3 ppb	336
Devol	Devol, OK	27 of 27	42.1 ppb	150
Rowena Water Supply Corporation	Rowena, TX	23 of 23	42.0 ppb	480
Fcsa #32/cantua Creek	Fresno, CA	23 of 23	41.4 ppb	250
Country Estates Water System North	West Monroe, LA	70 of 72	40.8 ppb	597
Point Wilhite Ws*	Downsville, LA	118 of 118	40.6 ppb	1,950

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

Utility	Location	Tests	Average level	People served
City of San Luis	San Luis, AZ	1 of 1	42.5 ppb	27,800
Southwest Ouachita Waterworks Inc.	West Monroe, LA	102 of 118	38.5 ppb	10,092
City of Lemoore	Lemoore, CA	89 of 112	33.7 ppb	24,945
Altus*	Altus, OK	102 of 102	32.2 ppb	21,477
Orange County WCID 1	Vidor, TX	112 of 112	31.7 ppb	16,448
Duncan Public Utilities Authority*	Duncan, OK	97 of 98	29.0 ppb	23,000
Hudson Water Supply Corporation	Lufkin, TX	53 of 53	27.1 ppb	10,211
Military Highway WSC - Las Rusias WTP	Progreso, TX	93 of 94	24.9 ppb	14,292
Weirton Area Water Board*	Weirton, WV	96 of 96	24.8 ppb	22,694
Geneva City*	Geneva, NY	92 of 92	23.8 ppb	13,914
City of Mercedes*	Mercedes, TX	104 of 104	21.9 ppb	15,700
Lemoore Naval Air Station	Nas Lemoore, CA	114 of 118	21.7 ppb	11,500
Coalinga	Coalinga, CA	107 of 107	21.5 ppb	19,362
El Reno*	El Reno, OK	106 of 106	21.2 ppb	16,212
City of Port Lavaca*	Port Lavaca, TX	92 of 92	20.7 ppb	12,248
City of Kearney	Kearney, NE	99 of 100	20.5 ppb	30,919
Kempner WSC*	Kempner, TX	109 of 109	20.4 ppb	19,313
Water Works District #1 of Vermilion	Maurice, LA	192 of 204	20.0 ppb	21,600
City of Laredo*	Laredo, TX	238 of 238	19.5 ppb	259,113
Ashland City*	Ashland, OH	96 of 96	19.4 ppb	20,648
City of Eagle Pass	Eagle Pass, TX	138 of 138	19.3 ppb	58,893
City of Junction City*	Junction City, KS	96 of 96	19.3 ppb	22,120
Streetsboro City PWS	Streetsboro, OH	92 of 92	18.9 ppb	13,185
Culkin Water District	Vicksburg, MS	92 of 92	18.9 ppb	11,135
Centennial Water and Sanitation District*	Highlands Ranch, CO	16 of 17	18.7 ppb	96,553
Hawthorne Water Department	San Jose, CA	338 of 356	18.6 ppb	43,545
City of Abbeville Water System	Abbeville, LA	190 of 198	18.1 ppb	15,012
City of Temple*	Temple, TX	197 of 197	17.9 ppb	85,884
Sapulpa*	Sapulpa, OK	97 of 97	17.7 ppb	19,702
City of Brighton*	Brighton, CO	74 of 74	17.6 ppb	36,010
Buckeye Water District 50	Deville, LA	192 of 192	17.6 ppb	11,700
City of Avenal	Avenal, CA	64 of 64	17.5 ppb	16,236
Marshall*	Marshall, MO	98 of 98	17.5 ppb	13,065
Brookesmith Special Utility District*	Brownwood, TX	68 of 68	17.3 ppb	11,289
City of Beeville	Beeville, TX	106 of 106	17.2 ppb	15,039
City of Imperial	Imperial, CA	85 of 87	17.2 ppb	16,145
City of Mineral Wells*	Mineral Wells, TX	102 of 102	17.2 ppb	14,826
Eunice Water System (LAWCO)	Baton Rouge, LA	192 of 198	17.0 ppb	15,753
Gloucester County Water Treatment Plant	Gloucester, VA	89 of 89	16.9 ppb	10,458
West Monroe Water System	West Monroe, LA	196 of 204	16.9 ppb	15,930
Troy	Troy, IL	82 of 82	16.8 ppb	16,800
Ponca City Mun Water*	Ponca City, OK	124 of 124	16.7 ppb	27,155
City of Galveston*	Galveston, TX	192 of 192	16.6 ppb	50,180
City of Taylor*	Taylor, TX	96 of 96	16.5 ppb	18,252
Texas A&M University Main Campus	College Station, TX	105 of 106	16.5 ppb	62,500
Calif State Polytechnical Univ - Pomona	Pomona, CA	79 of 84	16.4 ppb	24,880
City of Victoria	Victoria, TX	199 of 199	16.4 ppb	66,558
City of Inglewood	Inglewood, CA	162 of 185	16.3 ppb	82,500
Nueces County WCID 3*	Robstown, TX	102 of 102	16.3 ppb	14,607
Macomb*	Macomb, IL	95 of 96	16.2 ppb	11,309