Many of us are aware of Erin Brockovich’s environmental efforts, but we may have forgotten exactly what got her all up in a huff. Well, it was hexavalent chromium, the same chemical that is back in the news thanks to a non-profit organization called the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
Special interest groups may sometimes be accused of over-exaggerating things, and for taking “the-sky-is-falling” stances on certain issues. In this case, however, it makes sense to listen to what EWG has to say about the results from a previous study it commissioned.
The non-profit tested water samples for the presence of hexavalent chromium in 35 cities. The chemical is considered to be a “probable carcinogen” in humans by the National Toxicology Program, which belongs to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH concluded that hexavalent chromium (also called chromium-6) clearly demonstrated carcinogenic activity in lab animals, specifically by causing gastrointestinal tumors. Also, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided a draft toxicological review in October of this year, stating that hexavalent chromium in tap water is “likely to be carcinogenic to humans.”
So now that we have established that chromium-6 is not our friend, let’s ponder a few striking bits of information before we move on to the results of the study…
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not set a standard for chromium-6 in U.S. tap water and it does not currently require cities to test specifically for its presence. It has only set a legal limit for total chromium (hexavalent chromium can be a substantial part of total chromium), which is 100 ppb. The state of California has proposed a legal limit of 0.06 parts per billion (ppb) for hexavalent chromium in its drinking water. So, the EPA’s limit for total chromium is 1,600 times higher than California’s suggestion.
Without getting too much into the science, the Washington Post states that hexavalent chromium “was a commonly used industrial chemical until the early 1990s. It is still used in some industries, such as chrome plating and the manufacturing of plastics and dyes. The chemical can also leach into groundwater from natural ores.”
The latest EWG study revealed that tap water from 31 of 35 American cities contained chromium-6. The water in Norman, Okla.; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Riverside, Calif. had the highest amounts of chromium-6. Samples from 25 cities contained the toxic metal at concentrations above the “safe” 0.06 ppb maximum recently proposed by California regulators. Samples from 25 cities contained chromium-6 at concentrations above the “safe” maximum recently proposed by California regulators. The water in Norman, Okla., had more than 200 times the “safe” limit proposed in California.
Here’s a complete list of the cities that were found to have more than 0.06 ppb for chromium-6 (listed from the most to the least amount of the chemical):
Norman, Okla.; Honolulu, Hawaii; Riverside, Calif.; Madison, Wisc.; San Jose, Calif.; Tallahassee, Fla.; Omaha, Neb.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Pittsburgh, Penn.; Bend, Ore.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Atlanta, Georgia; Los Angeles, Calif.; Bethesda, Maryland; Phoenix, Ariz.; Washington, D.C.; Chicago, Ill.; Milwaukee, Wisc.; Villanova, Penn.; Sacramento, Calif.; Louisville, Kent.; Syracuse, N.Y.; New Haven, Conn. and Buffalo, N.Y.
Las Vegas and New York City tested right at the level of 0.06 ppb. Hexavalent chromium was not found in the water supplies of Indianapolis, Ind.; Plano, Texas; Reno, Nev. and San Antonio, Texas.
See this chart for all 35 of the cities that were sampled.
According to EWG, at least 74 million Americans in 42 states drink chromium-polluted tap water, much of it likely in the cancer-causing hexavalent form. These numbers are based on a 2009 study that EWG performed.
See the full EWG report on the organization’s website.
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