Pentachloroethane
Pentachloroethane is a non-flammable but toxic chemical compound of chlorine, hydrogen, and carbon. Safe Home offers a few kits that provide drinking water testing for Pentachloroethane in city and well water supplies.
Parameter Type: Drinking Water Testing for Volatiles
Parameter Name: Pentachloroethane
What it is and Where it Comes From:
Pentachloroethane is a non-flammable but toxic chemical compound of chlorine, hydrogen, and carbon. It is used as a solvent for oil and grease, in metal cleaning, and in the separation of coal from impurities. During a spill, Pentachloroethane will evaporate in part, but most will enter the soil or migrate into a waterway. Once it encounters water (surface or subsurface), pentachloroethane will dissolve or sink until it reaches an impermeable surface. The liquid pentachloroethane that accumulates in a saturated zone will slowly dissolve before partially volatilizing. The adsorbed pentachloroethane in the vadose and saturated zones will take some time disappear, liberating contamination primarily in the gaseous but also in the dissolved state. The resulting plumes (gaseous or dissolved) will be relatively moderate in size. Drinking water testing gives you several benefits like peace of mind, identifying contaminants in your water, and insight into health concerns. Safe Home offers Laboratory drinking water testing kits for Pentachloroethane, allowing you to collect your water sample and ship it directly to our EPA-Certified Laboratory. This platform of drinking water testing for Pentachloroethane will give you an accurate level based on the lowest level of a parameter our instruments can detect (Method Detection Level). Safe Home drinking water testing for volatiles can be used for city and well water supplies. Drinking water testing should be done any time you notice a significant change in your water quality.
Health Effects:
Exposure to Pentachloroethane can cause headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dizziness, confusion, tremors, drowsiness, seizures and even death. There is limited evidence that pentachloroethane causes cancer in animals. It may cause cancer of the liver and kidneys.
Solutions to Contaminant Levels:
What are the next steps after drinking water testing? A filter with granular activated carbon (GAC) is a proven option to remove certain chemicals, particularly organic chemicals, from water. GAC filters also can be used to remove chemicals that give objectionable odors or tastes to water such as hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs odor) or chlorine. Reverse osmosis is a process that removes foreign contaminants, solid substances, large molecules, and minerals from water by using pressure to push it through specialized membranes. Here’s how reverse osmosis works. Unlike osmosis, which is a passive process, reverse osmosis requires external force (pressure) to work. Pressure is applied to a highly concentrated solute solution, such as salt water, to pass through a membrane to a lower concentrate solution. The membrane allows water to flow through but blocks out larger molecules, like contaminants. The reverse osmosis process leaves higher concentrations of solute on one side and only the solvent, or freshwater, on the other. Who do I need to contact to find out more information about water quality in my area? Every community water supplier must provide an annual report to its customers, known as a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). The report provides information on your local drinking water quality, including the water’s source, contaminants found in the water, and how consumers can get involved in protecting drinking water. How often does the local public water system preform drinking water testing? Frequency of drinking water testing depends on the number of people served, the type of water source, and types of contaminants. Certain contaminants are tested more frequently than others, as established by the Safe Drinking Water Act. You can find out about levels of regulated contaminants in your treated water for the previous calendar year in your annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).
