MWH offers Bromate analysis by HPLC/MS‐MS to 0.1 ug/L

For Immediate Release: 1/8/2010

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has finalized the Public Health Goal (PHG) for bromate at 0.1 ppb http://www.oehha.ca.gov/water/phg/010110bromate.html

The current MCL is still 10 ppb. However the State of California Department of Public Health (CDPH) will now need to evaluate reducing the MCL to a level as close to 0.1 ppb as feasible.

Focus on bromate has previously been its formation as a product of ozonation. However, even if you are not using ozone as a disinfectant, but have chlorinated water as a source or in your treatment stream, you could still form low levels of bromate. A recently concluded report for the Water Research Foundation on the formation of perchlorate from hypochlorite also identified bromate as a formation byproduct at low levels (above the PHG). Note that at present, municipalities not using ozone as a disinfectant don’t need to monitor for bromate at all, so there is no readily available data for bromate occurrence in many of these municipal systems.

For municipalities using water from wholesalers who use ozone (e.g. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California), most ozone treatment plants are producing water that has more than 5 ppb bromate, which is well over the 0.1 ppb level (but below the current MCL of 10 ppb), which means that anyone who is getting a significant amount of that water into their system likely has bromate over 0.1 ppb in their distribution system.

California’s evaluation regarding the MCL will likely take several years(and there is some information suggesting that the toxicity data evaluated by OEHHA may not be accurate. It will be supplemented by ongoing work by several research groups that suggests the toxicity is not as great as OEHHA has indicated). Thus, ultimately there may be no change in the California MCL for bromate.

The PHGs are not binding regulations. However, the Department of Health Services is required to establish a Maximum Contaminant Level for the specified chemicals that is as close to goals as is technically and economically feasible. In addition, while drinking water suppliers are not required to meet the goals, they do have to disclose any deviation between levels of a contaminant in the water supply and that contaminants goal in their annual consumer reports. Parties are responsible for ground water cleanup and may be required to remediate the contamination based on the goals.

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