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U.S. EPA Contaminated Site Cleanup Information (CLU-IN)


U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. EPA Technology Innovation and Field Services Division

Dense Nonaqueous Phase Liquids (DNAPLs)

Environmental Occurrence

Halogenated Monoaromatics

Chlorobenzene

Chlorobenzene finds uses as a feedstock for chloronitrobenzene and aniline manufacture, a solvent carrier for methylene diisocyanate, a solvent, a pesticide intermediate, and for heat transfer (Lewis 2007).

EPA's Toxics Release Inventory reports that 546,011 pounds of chlorobenzene were released or disposed of in 2007. The law does not require all facilities to report, so this is a minimum estimate. Most of the releases were reported as point source or fugitive emissions to the air (455,426 pounds).

In a U.S. Geological Survey nationwide assessment of water quality in public and private water wells, chlorobenzene was detected in both domestic and public supply wells at very low levels, with none exceeding EPA's maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 100 µg/L in drinking water. Chlorobenzene was detected in 0.41 percent of samples taken from aquifers, also at very low levels (Zogorski et al. 2006).

References

Chlorobenzene, CASRN: 108-90-7
PubChem
PubChem, National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 15th Edition
Lewis, R.J.
Wiley, New York. ISBN: 978-0-471-76865-4, p 277, 2007

The Quality of Our Nation's Waters: Volatile Organic Compounds in the Nation's Ground Water and Drinking-Water Supply WellsAdobe PDF Logo
Zogorski, John, Janet M. Carter, Tamara Ivahnenko, Wayne W. Lapham, Michael J. Moran, Barbara L. Rowe, Paul J. Squillace, and Patricia L. Toccalino
U.S. Geological Survey, USGS Circular 1292, 2006, 112 pp

Toxicological Profile for Chlorobenzene
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), 100 pp, 1990