The Drinking Water Subcommittee of the EPA Science Advisory Board's Environmental Health Committee completed its scientific review of the Draft Drinking Water Criteria Document for Xylenes. The primary issue in the review concerns the selection of studies used in determining the Drinking Water Equivalent Level (DWEL), which is based upon the experimental level below which a health effect is not observed and provides a non-carcinogenic basis for establishing a drinking water standard. The Subcommittee concluded that the Office of Drinking Water has selected the appropriate studies to calculate the DWEL. The Subcommittee recommends that taste and odor should be a scientific basis for a secondary maximum Contaminant Level because most of the public will not drink water that smells.