AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Chromium 6 in drinking water11/27/2023 As chromium (VI) is a strong oxidizer, it is immediately harmful to biological systems and thus warrants strict regulation. It is known to be toxic, causing skin diseases on contact, lung cancer if inhaled, and possibly other cancers if ingested. Conversely, chromium (VI) is rare in nature, being primarily produced and introduced into the environment by industrial processes. Chromium (III) exists naturally in the environment and is an essential nutrient for the maintenance of metabolic pathways in living organisms. This is not a recent issue but an ongoing challenge for health and safety agencies that need to assess safety standards for chromium levels in water and set regulations for its detection and monitoring.Ĭhromium (III) and chromium (VI) are the two most common forms of chromium in water. It has become a major concern of late as it has been detected in unhealthy concentrations within drinking water. An ion exchange water treatment unit is the most effective.Įditor’s note: This story was updated to include a statement from the EPA.Ĭhromium-6 may flow in the drinking water of 200 million Americans, based on a new report by Environmental Working Group.Chromium is a naturally occurring element, widely dispersed through rocks, water, air, and soil. The good news: as we have reported, there are filters you can buy to remove the chemical from your tap water. That is much lower than the 75 percent of systems, cited by EWG, that had levels higher than 0.02 parts per billion.ĮWG’s report did not include samples from private well samples, where an estimated one-third of Americans get their drinking water. They also pointed out that only 2 percent of water systems tested by the agency had levels exceeding California’s enforceable water standard of 10 parts per billion. In an emailed statement, an EPA spokesperson wrote the agency is assessing the health risks of chromium-6 and plans to release its findings for public comment next year. Goldman said the holdup over setting a federal regulation for chromium-6 is likely due to the fact that testing for chromium-6 toxicity is difficult and few people have proper experience with it. ![]() The EPA has been conducting a comprehensive health review of chromium-6 since 2010, when the first nationwide tests for the carcinogen began in response to a previous EWG report. “The overall problem here is, what does it take for EPA to speed up its standard-setting process?” Lynn Goldman, former EPA assistant administrator of toxic substances under President Bill Clinton, told the PBS NewsHour. “There should be no carcinogen in water,” Dr. Louis and Houston with comparatively high levels. Phoenix has the highest of any city by far, followed by St. county water supplies with chromium-6 levels above California’s benchmark.ĮWG found that Oklahoma, Arizona and California have the highest statewide averages of chromium-6. 02 ppb - 1/500th the state’s mandate.ĮWG’s analysis, displayed in an interactive map, found 1,370 U.S. But public health researchers based in in the state wanted a much lower goal of. Then in 2014, California became the first state to put a cap on chromium-6 in drinking water, settling on a value of 10 parts per billion. In 1991, the EPA set a regulation for total chromium, but that includes chromium-3, which is a naturally occurring chemical and essential human nutrient. While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies chromium-6 as a known carcinogen, there is no federal standard on the maximum amount of chromium-6. ![]() In 2014, California became the first state to put a cap on chromium-6 in drinking water. “The difficulty with chromium-6 is how to set a standard to protect human health during windows of development,” Andrews said.Įven in small amounts, chromium-6 can cause skin burns, pneumonia, complications during childbirth and stomach cancer. Pollution can occur when these industrial sites fail to follow proper waste disposal methods, such as with unlined coal ash ponds. “Americans deserve to know if there are potentially harmful levels of a cancer-causing chemical in their tap water,” David Andrews, a senior scientist at EWG and co-author of the report, told the PBS NewsHour.Ĭhromium-6 occurs naturally in the environment, but high quantities are also produced by industrial projects. They found chromium-6 at levels deemed unsafe by public health officials. Chromium-6, the cancer-causing chemical best known for its role in the Erin Brockovich story, has been found at higher-than-recommended levels in the tap water supplying two-thirds of all Americans, according to a report from the Environmental Working Group.ĮWG, a nonprofit research organization, analyzed Environmental Protection Agency data on more than 60,000 samples collected at water utilities in all 50 states between 20.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |