Facts About Chromium-6 and Its Threat in Your Drinking Water

The Environmental Working Group released a report Monday that 31 cities have tap water polluted with Hexavalent Chromium (Chromium-6). It is estimated that 74 million people are drinking tap water with Chromium-6 in it. If you are drinking tap water you need to be concerned especially if you live in the cities that rank the highest. But how serious is this threat? This is a review of the article by the EWG and the subject itself.

Who is the Environmental Working Group? They are a non-profit organization founded in 1993, whose main goal is to warn the public about health and environmental issues.

Points to consider regarding the EWG report: They only tested the water supply in 35 cities. The same water was not re-tested over several weeks, so to be fair, this should have been performed for more accuracy. The source was a house in each city so the pipes going to this house should be considered as a contamination source. The EWG is not a scientific research institution. We don't know if proper samples were taken. I think all research studies should be examined for the purity of their research techniques. The EWG does sell a water filter on their website. This gives support to critics that suggest profit may be an ulterior motive for publishing the report.

In reviewing this information, you must consider that Chromium-6 is just one of many chemicals found in our drinking water. This does not consider the total toxic body load created from all sources: air pollution, food pollution, chemical pollution from the products we use on a daily basis; pollution from inside our own houses; and other chemicals already in our water supply.

It is the total toxic load that has become overwhelming to the immune system and health of many people. If Chromium-6 was the only chemical in our water or environment, it would not be as great a problem. We are besieged by chemicals in every area of our lives. These same areas such as Los Angeles, CA already are heavily populated and polluted. This is just one more contaminant to add to the list.

The top 15 cities with high Chromium-6 levels include: Honolulu, HI; Bend, Or; Sacramento, CA; San Jose, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Riverside, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Salt Lake City, NV; Scottsdale, AZ; Phoenix, AZ; Albuquerque, NM; Norman, Ok; Omaha, NE; Madison, WI; and Milwaukee, WI. Four California cities top the list.

What is Hexavalent Chromium? Natural Chromium is found in our soil naturally to begin with. Chromium-6 is a industrial chemical used in many industrial manufacturing plants that can end up leaching into the ground water supplies. Industries that contributed to this problem in the past and possibly now are arc welding staining steel industries; Steel and pulp mills; metal-plating industries; leather-tanning; wood preservation and textile manufacturing; any company manufacturing products containing chromate. Some of these companies are now EPA regulated according to my research so here are some other sources for this chemical.

Chromium-6 can be created when stainless steel breaks down or when it is exposed to acid. This could come from pipes or the water treatment process itself. So it is important to pin down the real source that is contaminating the water.

Hexchrome is also used in concrete to make it stronger. It is being used in a lot of road concrete jobs. The EPA does not regulate its use in concrete which can easily leach into the ground area around it.

What is the normal accepted level for this toxin? 0.06 parts per million is considered safe by many scientists. There is controversy over the acceptable level that is safe. The EPA does not agree with that standard so there standard is set higher. Many of cities listed had a 0.10 to 0.19 PPM level. This is equal to one drop from an eye dropper being put into a total amount of water equal to one hundred Olympic-sized swimming pools. At this level, there is no evidence of damage to tissues and organ systems.

Doesn't the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency test our water supply for chromium 6? Drinking water has been monitored for Total Chromium since the 1970's. The results of this "total chromium" monitoring has been maintained in the Drinking Water Program database since 1984.

According to OEHHA, There are no state or federal drinking water standards for Chromium-6 specifically. There is a drinking water standard for "total" chromium ( mix of chromium-3 and Chromium-6). The California standard for total Chromium in drinking water is 50 parts per billion. The federal standards are 100 PPB. The EPA considers this is good enough to protect consumers.

In 2001, the California Department of Health Services, required that Chromium-6 be added to a list of unregulated chemicals monitored by the UCMR.

Of 4,400 community systems, non-transient and non-community systems with 12,000 drinking water sources, those that have been found with possible contamination problems are subject to UCMR regulations. The monitoring system exempts systems with less than 150 service connections. One third of these sources showed a problem with levels higher than 0.06ppm. This is according to the California Public Health Department. At this point the EPA does not require all state water departments to test for Chromium-6 in specific.

It seems that most manufacturing companies are now required to regulate their business waste containing Chromium and it some cases, Chromium-6. Violations go unpunished in some states. There is a lot of dirty business in inspections period, no matter what business. The inspectors are paid kickbacks by the company to ignore violations. The quality of the inspection system seems to depend on each state at this point. One man wrote in that his metal plating facility in North Texas was fined two thousand dollars for every day that his company's waste water contained more than 4 parts per million of Chronium-6. So some companies and states are doing a good job now to safely contain manufacturing contamination.

The fact remains that the water tested in 31 cities contained 3 times the amount of Chromium-6 that is considered safe by many scientists. The cities own investigation shows Chromium-6 in many of the water systems. So it could be a matter of too little-too late. It may be past problems still affecting the water supply today or that companies are still getting away with contamination despite EPA efforts.

What so bad about Chromium-6? It has been proven to increase gastrointestinal tumors, lung tumors, kidney and liver toxicity, and anemia. It should be noted that the Chromium-6 dosage that caused toxicity problems in rodent research studies were 100 times higher than those found in the Hinkley Water court case.

I have never heard of Chromium-6? It's not a new chemical and was the subject of the famous movie, Erin Brockovich. This famous woman 23 years ago, attempted to draw attention to the problem with her movie. It should be pointed out that the Chromium-6 contamination in Hinkley, CA was 580 parts per billion in the Hinkley water supply. This is 50 times greater than the EPA standard set right now.

Drinking water is not safe just because your city is not on that list.

Hormones and medicines are showing up in all water supplies. This is a huge problem all across the country.

Michigan has arsenic, along with other pollutants, in their water;

Our well water contains nitrates because it once housed an old chicken ranch; Home wells may be contaminated with chemicals as well. Oil from the BP oil spill has contaminated much fresh water in those states.

Water around the areas of Colbert and Danielsville, GA is contaminated with Benzene . Even though there has been pressure from the people in the area, the government is not stepping in to stop the company creating the problem.

Alamosa, Colorado had their water supplies in 2008 contaminated with Salmonella. Colorado has some of its water contaminated by abandoned mines, pollution, and medicines. It has been advised by Colorado Fish and Game not to eat the fish you catch because of that contamination. There are finding fish with abnormalities and toxins in wild life as well. Colorado and other states are seeing water contamination from Natural gas drilling as well.

Chlorine, Flouride, prescriptions medications, and industrial chemicals are all found in tap water commonly. This article should make you think twice about drinking the tap water in your home. It's just the degree of the contamination problem that varies from area to area. The bottom line is that you need to use a water system in your home that takes these chemicals out. Bottled water is not the answer because most of the bottled water is of poor quality. Investigate companies that sell home water systems. Ask questions about which contaminants are purified with each system. Then make your choice.

References:

http://www.oehha.ca.gov/public_info/facts/chrom6facts.html

http://www.oehha.ca.gov/public_info/facts/chrom6facts.html

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=chromium-water-cancer

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=chromium-water-cancer&page=3

http://www.medicalread.com/articles/3093/1/alamosa-colorado-water-supply-contaminated-with-salmonella.html

http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2003/359.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20101220/ts_yblog_thelookout/study-tap-water-in-31-cities-contains-cancer-causing-chemical

http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/drinkingwater/Pages/Chromium6sampling.aspx