What are the standards in Canada and the rest of the world?
The maximum allowable level of TCE in drinking water is often measured in parts per billion (ppb). It is Health Canada’s responsibility to set a guideline for a maximum allowable level, but it is only a guideline. Monitoring water quality is a provincial jurisdiction, unless it is on federally owned land. Following the TCE contamination in Shannon, Que., and the high levels found in some homes (1,000 ppb), the Quebec government reduced the maximum allowable level to five ppb. Health Canada also reviewed the health risks and proposed the same five ppb guideline nationally. In July 2005, Health Canada and the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water accepted the more stringent limit. The United States also sets its limit at five ppb, although it is lower in some states, as low as one ppb in New Jersey. The European Union sets a total limit of trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene at 10 ppb.
