Local governments and environmental advocates are asking the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to establish a preliminary health goal for 1,4 dioxane in drinking water. Similar to PFAS, 1,4 dioxane is a toxic, man-made chemical that can cause cancer over a lifetime of exposure.
"This specific health goal is critically important to provide essential guidance to the Environmental Management Commission as it considers draft 1,4 dioxane rulemaking, and would offer the public a clear, science-based understanding of safe long-term exposure levels to this emerging contaminant," said Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo in a letter to the state health department.
Several other organizations have also sent letters requesting this action, including New Hanover County, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, and the Southern Environmental Law Center.
In an emailed statement, the state health department said it’s “received four letters regarding 1,4-dioxane in drinking water and is in the process of reviewing the requests and working with (the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality).”
What is 1,4 dioxane?
The chemical is typically used as a solvent to manufacture other industrial and commercial chemicals. It can be released into the air, water, or soil.
Studies highlighted by the EPA show exposure to the chemical can cause liver and kidney defects.
The Cape Fear River Basin has some of the highest levels of 1,4 dioxane in the country, according to a legislative report from May 2024. This report also found that people in North Carolina "are exposed to 1,4-dioxane concentrations that may be two times the national average in drinking water and as much as 4 times national averages in surface and groundwater."
The Cape Fear River provides drinking water to over one million people in North Carolina. The river is also polluted with PFAS.
Both PFAS and 1,4 dioxane are difficult to remove from water and require specialized treatment methods.
A preliminary health goal would help regulations move forward
When GenX and PFAS were first discovered in the Cape Fear River in 2017, state health officials responded by issuing a preliminary health goal of 140 PPT.
"That health goal was later revised by the federal government to a lower number, but it was a starting point," said Kenneth Waldroup, executive director of the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, in an interview with WUNC. "We're suggesting that 1,4 dioxane has a similar path. We need the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to step forward and provide a benchmark."
This request comes as the Environmental Management Commission has been hesitant to adopt regulations for 1,4 dioxane in surface water and ground water. Some commissioners have expressed skepticism at how harmful the chemical may or may not be, despite evidence proving its toxic impacts.
Jean Zhuang, attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, says the state establishing a preliminary health goal is only the first step of many.
"It does help make it very clear that this is a chemical that North Carolina communities are suffering from. Polluters are working very hard to put up barriers... against these protections," said Zhuang. "I think we're at a point where people need to be paying attention. They can't take clean drinking water for granted."
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
