Statewide Health Standards

Revised MCLs and HALs

Additions and revisions to EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) or Lifetime Health Advisory Levels (HALs) affect both the groundwater MSC for a substance as well as the soil-to-groundwater numeric value, which is based on the groundwater MSC. The following additions to the Drinking Water Standards and Health Advisories, most recently updated in 2018 (EPA Publication 822-S-12-001), impacts the MSCs:

HALs: Bromobenzene, Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA), Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS)

These tables present the revised statewide health standards that were published August 27, 2016 in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. These standards became effective on that date. Any final report or remedial action completion report using the statewide health standard that is submitted on or after August 27, 2016 must demonstrate attainment of the standards in these tables in order to receive the liability relief afforded by Act 2.

Number Please! (Excel) is a tool to be used to quickly find all information available on the SHS MSCs that apply to a single regulated substance.

Medium Specific Concentrations

On Saturday, March 17, 2018, revisions to Chapter 250 via Final-Omitted Rulemaking became effective. The final-omitted rulemaking corrected transcription errors for Aldrin, beryllium, and cadmium in two MSC tables and the physical and toxicological properties table for inorganic regulated substances. The following corrections have been made to Chapter 250 Tables 1, 4A, and 5B:

• The incorrect Aldrin MSC of 0.43 micrograms per liter (µg/L) for groundwater under "Used Aquifers, TDS ≤ 2500, R" in Appendix A, Table 1 has been corrected to 0.043 µg/L.
• The incorrect toxicity values of 8.4 (mg/kg/day)-1 and 15 (mg/kg/day)-1 for beryllium and cadmium, respectively, have been removed from Appendix A Table 5B because they are actually inhalation toxicity values, not oral toxicity values. The removal of these incorrect toxicity values resulted in changes to the direct contact numeric values for inorganic regulated substances in soil (Table 4A). Changes to Table 4A include correcting the beryllium residential numeric value from 2 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) to 440 mg/kg and the non-residential surface soil numeric value from 11 mg/kg to 6,400 mg/kg. The cadmium residential numeric value changed from 1.2 mg/kg to 110 mg/kg, and the non-residential surface soil numeric value changed from 6 mg/kg to 1,600 mg/kg.

The final-omitted rulemaking is available online and in PDF (beginning on page 1503).

On August 27, 2016, revisions to the regulations found at 25 Pa. Code Chapter 250, Administration of the Land Recycling Program (Act 2 cleanup standards), became effective. The MSCs have been updated to incorporate new toxicological information on about 390 chemical substances.

Table 1 - Medium Specific Concentrations (MSCs) for Organic Regulated Substances in Groundwater

• Table 1 (PDF)
• Table 1 (Excel)

Table 2 - MSCs for Inorganic Substances in Groundwater

• Table 2 (PDF)
• Table 2 (Excel)

Table 3a - MSCs for Organic Regulated Substances in Soil: Direct Contact Values

• Table 3a (PDF)
• Table 3a (Excel)

Table 3b - MSCs for Organic Regulated Substances in Soil: Soil-to-Groundwater Values

• Table 3b (PDF)
• Table 3b (Excel)

Table 4a - MSCs for Inorganic Regulated Substances in Soil: Direct Contact Values

• Table 4a (PDF)
• Table 4a (Excel)

Table 4b - MSCs for Inorganic Regulated Substances in Soil: Soil-to-Groundwater Values

• Table 4b (PDF)
• Table 4b (Excel)

Table 5a - Physical and Toxicological Properties: Organic Regulated Substances

• Table 5a (PDF)
• Table 5a (Excel)

Table 5b - Physical and Toxicological Properties: Inorganic Regulated Substances

• Table 5b (PDF)
• Table 5b (Excel)

Table 6 - Threshold of Regulation Compounds

• Table 6 (PDF)
• Table 6 (Excel)

Table 7 - Default Values for Calculating Medium-Specific Concentrations for Lead (PDF)

Table 8 - Constituents of Potential Ecological Concern (PDF)

Statewide Health Ecological Screening Process Rationale

Ecological Screening Process Rationale (Word)