Even though the report found that chromium-6 was present in a lot of counties’ drinking water, only one county had levels above the public health limit set by the EPA.
Advertisement
The EPA has authority over the nation’s drinking water and started looking at the health effects of chromium-6 in 2008.
An interactive map of Chromium 6 test levels in OH and the entire country can be found here.
Cleveland came in 15th on a list of the largest US water systems contaminated with Chromium 6 with.120 parts per billion, according to a report by EWG.
“We test for total chromium, which includes chromium-6, every year as required and consistently come in well below EPA requirements for safe drinking water, and we tested specifically for chromium-6 only in 2013 and found levels that ranged from 0.9 to 1.6 parts per billion on average”.
“More than two-thirds of Americans’ drinking water supply has more chromium than the level that California scientists say is safe – a number that’s been confirmed by scientists in both New Jersey and North Carolina”, according to Walker. Columbus was 9 highest with 0.207 PPB.
Citing pending litigation, the State Water Resources Control Board declined to comment on the maximum legal limit, beyond public documents that say the levels are based in part on what water managers consider technically feasible and cost-effective. The report said the levels found were the highest tested at about 7 parts per billion (ppb).
“The safety of our customers is our top priority”, Wood said.
“We want people to be aware that the EPA is dragging its feet on setting a national drinking water standard; that the chemical industry and the electrical power industry have delayed that process, and that as a result of industry influence, the EPA might eventually decide to do nothing”, Walker said.
– You may have heard it before: Chromium 6 or Hexavalent chromium.
Erin Brockovich may have made this cancer-causing chemical famous, but data from nationwide tests show it’s still in our water – and at potentially risky levels. However, California’s current legal limit for drinking water is 10 parts per billion.
“This is quite shocking, to be honest”, Brockovich told Newsweek. Exposure to very low levels at crucial periods during the development of a fetus, infant or child could cause “much more serious problems” than it does for an adult drinking a larger dose, Walker explained.
A new report shows there are cancer causing chemicals in the water of millions of Americans. Those were the only three states to pursue the reduced limits. The US Environmental Protection Agency should have enforced stricter standards on the chemical years ago, advocates say. The group estimated that if nothing changes, chromium-6 in tap water will lead to more than 12,000 excess cases of cancer by the end of the century.
“In terms of cancer studies, that is the gold standard of animal studies”, said David Andrews, co-author of the report and a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group.
The water in Phoenix is completely safe, he added.
But that is 500 times the amount that the California Office of Health Hazard Assessment recommended and reflects a risk that 500 people out of a million will get cancer. But the Environmental Working Group fears the EPA may bow to pressure from industry and do nothing.
Kinkade said there are natural reasons chromium-6 shows up in Phoenix samples.
Advertisement
“But the answer to high costs is not allowing exposures at unsafe levels while pretending water is safe”, the group concluded. Although EWG believes the legal limit is far too high to protect public health, it is the only enforceable regulation on chromium-6 in the U.S.
