## Water: Arsenic You are here: Water Laws & Regulations Regulatory Information Safe Drinking Water Act Arsenic Fact Sheet: Drinking Water Standard for Arsenic 

# Fact Sheet: Drinking Wate r Standard for Arsenic
EPA 815-F-00-015 January 2001 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a regulation to reduce the public health risks from arsenic in drinking water. The Agency is revising the current drinking water standard for arsenic from 50 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb. This revision will provide additional protection for 13 m illion Americans against cancer and other health problems, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, as well as neurological effects. EPA is reviewing the new arsenic in drinking water standard . EPA will work with the National Academy of Sciences and the National Drinking Water Advisory Council to reassess the scientific and cost issues associ ated with the rule.

 Arsenic in drinking water rule (66 FR 6976 / January22, 2001)

Background Studies have linked long-term exposure to arsenic in drinking wa ter to cancer of the bladder, lungs, skin, kidney, nasal passag es, liver, and prostate. Non-cancer effects of ingesting arsenic include cardiovascular, pulmonary, immunological, neurological, and endocrine (e.g., diabetes) effects. Short -term exposure to high doses of arsenic can cause other adverse health effects, but such effects are unlikely to occur from U.S. public water supplies that are in compliance wit h the existing arsenic standard of 50 ppb. The current standard of 50 ppb was set by EPA in 1975, based on a P ublic Health Service standard originally established in 1942 . A March 1999 report by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that the current st andard does not achieve EPA's goal of protecting public health and should be lowered a s soon as possible. On June 22, 2000, EPA proposed a new drinki ng water standard of 5 ppb for arsenic and re quested comment on options of 3 ppb, 10 ppb and 20 ppb. EPA evaluated over 6,500 pages of comments from 1,100 co mmenters. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act Amend ments of 1996, EPA is required to issue a final rule by January 1, 2001 and Congress subsequently extended this date to June 22, 2001. Final Rule EPA is setting the new arsenic standard for drinking water at 10 ppb to protect consumers against the effects of long-term, chr onic exposure to arsenic in drinking water. EPA is using its discretionary authority under the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act to set the standard at a level that "maximizes health risk reduction benefits at a cost that is justified by the benefits." The new standard will apply to all 54,000 community water systems. A community water system is a system that serves 15 location s or 25 residents year-round, including most cities and towns, apartments, and mobile home parks with their ow n water supplies. EPA estimates that roughly five percent, or 3,000, of community water systems, serving 11 million people, will have to take corrective action to lower the current levels of arsenic in their drinking water. The new standard will also apply to 20,000 water systems that serve at least 25 of the same people more than six months of the y ear, such as schools, churches, nursing homes, and factories. EPA estimates that five percent, or 1,100, of these water systems, serving approximately 2 million people, will need to take measures to meet the new arsenic standard. Of all of the affected systems, 97 percent are small systems that serve fewer than 10,000 people each. Arsenic Occurrence Arsenic occurs naturally in rocks and soil, water, air, and plant s and animals. It can be further released into the environment through natural activities such as volcanic action, erosion of rocks, and forest fires, or through human actions. A pproximately 90 percent of industr ial arsenic in the U.S. is curr ently used as a wood preservative, but arsenic is also used in paints, dyes, metals, drugs, soaps, and semi-conductors . Agricultural applications, mining, and smelting also contribut e to arsenic releases in the environment. Higher levels of arsenic tend to be found more in ground water sources than in surface water sources (i.e., lakes and rivers) o f drinking water. Compared to the rest of the United States, western states have more systems wit h arsenic levels greater than 10 ppb. Part s of the Midwest and New England have som e systems whose current arsenic levels are greater than 10 ppb, but more systems with arsenic levels that ra nge from 2-10 ppb. While many systems may not have detected ar senic in their drinking water above 10 ppb, there may be geographic "hot spots" with systems that may have hi gher levels of arsenic than t he predicted occurrence for that area. Cost The average increase in household cost for water that meets the new arsenic standards depends on the size of the water system a nd how many people are served by that system. For small community water systems (those serving fewer than 10,000 people), the increase in cost is expected to range b etween $38 and $327. For community water systems that serve greater than 10,000 people, annual household costs for water are expected to increase from $0.86 to $32. Systems may apply for financial assistance through EPA's drinking water state revolving fund. Since 1996, EPA's drinking water state revolving fund program has made available $3.6 billion to assist drinking water systems with projects to improve their infrastr ucture. EPA has funded over 1000 loans for projects around the country. In addition to financial assistance, compliance period extensions of up to 9 years (result ing in a total compliance period of 14 years) are available to small systems through an exemption process. 

# Pa g e 1 of 2 Fact Sheet: Drinkin g Water Standard for Arsenic | Arsenic | US EPA

9/18/2012 http ://water.e p a. g ov/lawsre g s/rulesre g s/sdwa/arsenic/re g ulations

_ factsheet.cfmLast updated on Tuesday, March 06, 2012 http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/arsenic/regulations_factsheet.cfm 

# Pa g e 2 of 2 Fact Sheet: Drinkin g Water Standard for Arsenic | Arsenic | US EPA

9/18/2012 http ://water.e p a. g ov/lawsre g s/rulesre g s/sdwa/arsenic/re g ulations

_ factsheet.cfm