Emerging Compound Periodic Testing Effort by Fairfax Water

Quarterly Data for 2008/2009 (updated 02/10/2010)

There are tens of thousands of compounds emerging that are considered suspected Endocrine Disrupting Compounds or Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products. Fairfax Water carefully considered the most prudent use of its resources in researching a suitable list of compounds to test in both source and treated waters. We looked at influences in the Potomac and Occoquan River Watersheds (industrial, agricultural uses, etc.) to determine which compounds are most likely to be present. We then looked at our treatment process to determine which compounds would not be readily removed through treatment. Finally, we looked at which compounds could be measured in water. The list of compounds in the tables below were tested in the source and treated waters. Samples were sent to an independent laboratory proficient in this type of analysis.

Table 1

Source Waters (Water from the Potomac River or Occoquan Reservoir prior to any chemical or physical treatment application)

Compounds

Common Use of Compound

Lowest level of instrument detection⁽¹⁾

Occoquan Reservoir Data

Potomac River Data

# of 8 oz glasses of Treated drinking water* per day ingested before exceeding Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) Levels**

Jun-08 ⁽²⁾

Sep-08

Dec-08

Mar-09 ⁽³⁾

Jun-09⁽³⁾

Sep-09 ⁽³⁾

Dec-09 ⁽³⁾

Jun-08 ⁽²⁾

Sep-08

Dec-08

Mar-09 ⁽³⁾

Jun-09 ⁽³⁾

Sep-09⁽³⁾

Dec-09⁽³⁾

Atrazine

Commonly used herbicide for maize crops

0.1 ppb

0.9 ppb

0.7 ppb

0.2 ppb

25 glasses at a 1.0 ppb concentration ⁽⁴⁾

Carbamazepine

Anti-epileptic drug

0.001 ppb

0.003 ppb

0.002 ppb

0.011 ppb

0.012 ppb

0.002 ppb

0.009 ppb

0.007 ppb

0.006 ppb

0.007 ppb

0.004 ppb

0.007 ppb

0.003 ppb

0.006 ppb

5600 glasses at a 0.018 ppb concentration ⁽⁴⁾

Estrone

Natural human hormone

0.5 ppt

0.9 ppt

0.7 ppt

4300 glasses at a 0.9 ppt concentration ⁽⁴⁾

Caffeine

Stimulant

0.05 ppb

0.06 ppb

0.07 ppb

740,000 glasses at a 1.0 ppb concentration ⁽⁴⁾

Naproxen

Anti-inflammatory pharmaceutical

0.002 ppb

0.003 ppb

>340,000,000 glasses at a <0.00050 ppb concentration ⁽⁴⁾

Progesterone

Natural human hormone

0.1 ppt

0.2 ppt

0.1 ppt

1,500 glasses at a 199.0 ppt concentration ⁽⁴⁾

Sulfamethoxazole

Antibacterial antibiotic

0.002 ppb

0.004 ppb

51,000,000 glasses at a 0.003 ppb concentration⁽⁴⁾

17b-estradiol

Natural human hormone

0.5 ppt

Bisphenol A

Intermediate in manufacture of plastics and resins

0.010 ppb

Butylbenzyl phthalate

Plasticizer

1.0 ppb

*Note that in Table 2 there are no detected

DEHP [di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate]

Plasticizer

0.6 ppb

compounds in the Treated Drinking Water

Dibutyl phthalate

Plasticizer

2.0 ppb

Ethynyl estradiol

Synthetic estrogenic pharmaceutical

0.5 ppt

Ibuprofen

Anti-inflammatory pharmaceutical

0.05 ppb

* *Acceptable Daily Intake or ADI is a measure of the

Lindane (BHC-gamma)

Insecticide

0.02 ppb

amount of a specific substance in food or drinking water

Linuron

Herbicide

0.5 ppb

that can be ingested orally over a lifetime without an

Methoxychlor

Pesticide

0.1 ppb

appreciable health risk.

Monensin

Antibiotic

0.0001 ppb

Nonylphenol

Used as an intermediate in manufacture of chemicals

0.5 ppb

Octylphenol

Used as an intermediate in manufacture of chemicals

0.5 ppb

Table 2

Treated Waters (Water which has been physically and chemically treated to drinking water quality) No Detected Compounds

Compounds

Common Use of Compound

Lowest level of instrument detection⁽¹⁾

Griffith Treatment Plant Data

Corbalis Treatment Plant Data

Jun-08 ⁽²⁾

Sep-08

Dec-08

Mar-09 ⁽³⁾

Jun-09⁽³⁾

Sep-09 ⁽³⁾

Dec-09 ⁽³⁾

Jun-08 ⁽²⁾

Sep-08

Dec-08

Mar-09 ⁽³⁾

Jun-09 ⁽³⁾

Sep-09⁽³⁾

Dec-09⁽³⁾

Atrazine ⁽⁵⁾

Commonly used herbicide for maize crops

0.1 ppb

Carbamazepine

Anti-epileptic drug

0.001 ppb

Estrone

Natural human hormone

0.5 ppt

Caffeine

Stimulant

0.05 ppb

Naproxen

Anti-inflammatory pharmaceutical

0.002 ppb

Progesterone

Natural human hormone

0.1 ppt

Sulfamethoxazole

Antibacterial antibiotic

0.002 ppb

17b-estradiol

Natural human hormone

0.5 ppt

Bisphenol A

Intermediate in manufacture of plastics and resins

0.010 ppb

Butylbenzyl phthalate

Plasticizer

1.0 ppb

DEHP [di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate]

Plasticizer

0.6 ppb

Dibutyl phthalate

Plasticizer

2.0 ppb

Ethynyl estradiol

Synthetic estrogenic pharmaceutical

0.5 ppt

Ibuprofen

Anti-inflammatory pharmaceutical

0.05 ppb

Lindane (BHC-gamma)

Insecticide

0.02 ppb

Linuron

Herbicide

0.5 ppb

Methoxychlor

Pesticide

0.1 ppb

Monensin

Antibiotic

0.0001 ppb

Nonylphenol

Used as an intermediate in manufacture of chemicals

0.5 ppb

Octylphenol

Used as an intermediate in manufacture of chemicals

0.5 ppb

Key to terms:

ND = Non-Detect

NA = not analyzed during this collection

ppb = part per billion

ppt = part per trillion

⁽¹⁾ Lowest Level of Instrument Detection is the concentration at which the compound cannot be enumerated lower than, and thus the result termed a Non-Detect (ND).

⁽²⁾ The Instrument Lower Level of Detection for this specific date for Bisphenol A was 0.1 ppb.

⁽³⁾ The Instrument Lower Level of Detection for this specific date for Monensin was 0.001

⁽⁴⁾Source of information obtained from a review of ADI's and correlated data by Intertox, Inc. April 2009; and the Water Research Foundation 2008 Publication 91238, Toxicological Relevance of EDC's and Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water

⁽⁵⁾Atrazine has been detected periodically within regulatory data sets at extremely low levels below the Instrument Detection Level in the above tables. These data sets can be viewed in the Annual Report on Water Quality at the link http://www.fairfaxwater.org/water/water.htm

updated02/10/10mab

Additional information about water quality can be viewed at http://www.fairfaxwater.org/water/index.htm.

List of Emerging Compounds Studied in Current Testing Effort

Table 3

Compound

Common Description

EPA Regulated for Drinking Water Standards

EPA Maximum Contaminant Level

17b-estradiol

Natural human hormone

Atrazine

Herbicide

Yes

3 ppb

Bisphenol A

Used as an intermediate in manufacture of plastics and resins

Butylbenzyl phthalate

Plasticizer

Caffeine

Stimulant

Carbamazepine

Anti-epileptic pharmaceutical

DEHP [di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate]

Plasticizer

Dibutyl phthalate

Plasticizer

Estrone

Natural human hormone

Ethynyl estradiol

Synthetic estrogenic pharmaceutical

Ibuprofen

Anti-inflammatory pharmaceutical

Lindane (BHC-gamma)

Insecticide

Yes

0.2 ppb

Linuron

Herbicide

Methoxychlor

Pesticide

Yes

40 ppb

Monensin

Antibiotic

Naproxen

Anti-inflammatory pharmaceutical

Nonylphenol

Used as an intermediate in manufacture of chemicals

Octylphenol

Used as an intermediate in manufacture of chemicals

Progesterone*

Natural human hormone

Sulfamethoxazole

Antibacterial antibiotic

*added to list in Dec 08