Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) in drinking water
1,034 active public water systems in 33 states had a Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) violation in the past three years, and 47 had one in the latest quarter of EPA's data.
You are on Tapcensus, an independent guide to the EPA compliance records of every public water system in the United States. This page explains Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) and lists the water systems whose records include a related violation. It does not show measured levels.
Is Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) in the records for your water system?
Enter a ZIP code, town, or street address to see the water systems that serve your area, their status, and which rules and contaminants appear in their violations.
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What it is and where it comes from
Ethylene dibromide (EDB) is a halogenated organic compound used as a soil and grain fumigant and as a lead scavenger in leaded gasoline. Its use as a pesticide was banned in the United States in 1984 following discovery of widespread groundwater contamination. EDB is highly persistent in groundwater and continues to be detected at legacy agricultural and fuel storage sites.
Health effects
EDB is classified by EPA as a probable human carcinogen (Group B2). It is acutely toxic at high doses, causing liver, kidney, and reproductive damage. Chronic low-level exposure is associated with increased cancer risk. Men of reproductive age face particular risk due to EDB's well-documented testicular toxicity.
The standard and what a violation means
EPA limit: 0.00005 mg/L (0.05 ppb).
Water systems with a Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) violation, by state
Active public water systems that reported at least one related violation to EPA in the past three years. Each state links to the list of its affected systems.
| State | Systems with violations, 3 yr | Share of active systems | In violation, latest quarter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 172 | 2% | 8 |
| New York | 119 | 1% | 1 |
| Oklahoma | 94 | 7% | 0 |
| Texas | 92 | 1% | 0 |
| Oregon | 75 | 3% | 3 |
| New Jersey | 64 | 2% | 4 |
| Illinois | 41 | 1% | 9 |
| Colorado | 40 | 2% | 4 |
| Idaho | 40 | 2% | 3 |
| Connecticut | 34 | 1% | 1 |
| California | 30 | 0% | 1 |
| Wyoming | 28 | 4% | 1 |
| Alabama | 27 | 5% | 0 |
| Indiana | 27 | 1% | 2 |
| Alaska | 25 | 2% | 0 |
| Vermont | 22 | 2% | 3 |
| Nevada | 16 | 3% | 0 |
| Arizona | 13 | 1% | 1 |
| North Carolina | 13 | 0% | 1 |
| Massachusetts | 12 | 1% | 1 |
| Montana | 9 | 0% | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 8 | 2% | 0 |
| Washington | 8 | 0% | 2 |
| Wisconsin | 6 | 0% | 0 |
| Minnesota | 5 | 0% | 2 |
| Kansas | 3 | 0% | 0 |
| South Dakota | 3 | 0% | 0 |
| North Dakota | 2 | 1% | 0 |
| New Mexico | 2 | 0% | 0 |
| Florida | 1 | 0% | 0 |
| Kentucky | 1 | 0% | 0 |
| Michigan | 1 | 0% | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 1 | 0% | 0 |
Largest water systems with a Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) violation
The ten biggest systems, by people served, whose records include a related violation in the past three years.
| System | Serves | Status | Rules violated, 3 yr | Unresolved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Denver Water Board Denver County |
1,287,000 | 3 | 0 | |
|
Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Auth Allegheny County |
520,000 | 3 | 0 | |
|
Gilbert, Town of Gilbert · Maricopa County |
247,600 | 9 | 1 | |
|
Corona, City of Corona · Riverside County |
169,380 | 6 | 0 | |
|
City of Sunnyvale Sunnyvale · Santa Clara County |
157,566 | 5 | 0 | |
|
Inima USA / Aquaria LLC Dighton · Bristol County |
105,643 | 1 | 0 | |
|
Queen Creek Town of Queen Creek · Maricopa County |
95,502 | 1 | 0 | |
|
Aqua WSC Bastrop County |
86,325 | 5 | 1 | |
|
GW Santa Cruz Water CO Maricopa · Pinal County |
84,000 | 7 | 0 | |
|
South Huntington Water District Huntington (t) · Suffolk County |
81,760 | 1 | 0 |
About this data
A system is counted once if any of its violations in the past three years involved Ethylene Dibromide (EDB), including monitoring and reporting lapses. Rules violated and status in the systems table are for the whole system, not Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) alone. Counts cover active systems in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Source: the U.S. EPA's Enforcement and Compliance History Online system (ECHO), which publishes the federal Safe Drinking Water Information System. EPA's terms and values are shown as published. The records are from EPA's data refresh of Oct 7, 2026; EPA refreshes this data quarterly, and states report to EPA with a lag of three to six months, so the newest violations may not appear yet.