![]() Meanwhile the EPA has left itself open to charges that they’re hitting the brakes on any new recommendations due to pressure from the chemical and electric power industries. He also mentions that an updated health standard was published in 2011, yet it still hasn’t been finalized. Nevertheless, the institute stopped meeting shortly thereafter due to a lack of members and didn’t restart their efforts until 2014.ĭavid Andrews, a senior scientist and co-author of the chromium-6 report, claims it’s been almost a decade since studies revealed that chromium-6 can be toxic if ingested while the EPA’s drinking water regulation is based on the potential of skin rashes. For instance, New Jersey’s Drinking Water Quality Institute, a panel of scientific advisers, recommended lowering the acceptable limit to 0.07 ppb in 2010. ![]() Moreover, efforts to determine a safe standard for chromium-6 in New Jersey have stalled over the past decade. Unfortunately, the EPA total chromium standard does not adequately protect the consumer. At present, the EPA sets a total chromium limit (includes chromium-3, chromium-5, and chromium-6) of 100 ppb, which New Jersey currently follows. Environmental safety advocates point out that an established health standard is necessary before the EPA can regulate a chemical. The EPA, on the other hand, has yet to impose a deadline for even drawing up a health standard regarding the presence of chromium 6. Their limit for tap water is 10 ppb (parts per billion). EPA Drags Its Heels on New Health StandardsĪccording to the EWG, California is the only state to regulate chromium-6 at the moment. Indeed, in 2016 Erin Brockovich released a statement shortly after these findings became public affirming that even low levels of chromium-6 can cause cancer. Although her class action lawsuit against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) brought attention to the toxic effects of chromium-6, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has yet to establish safe limits for it in our drinking water. Its usage in power companies’ cooling towers was revealed as a threat by Erin Brockovich when she investigated the water quality in the southern California town of Hinkley. While many companies have used chromium-6 for processes such as chrome plating, steel making and lowering the water temperature in the cooling towers of power plants, studies have linked this chemical to liver damage, lung cancer, and reproductive and developmental problems. Nevertheless, the group’s research breathed new life into the ongoing dilemma between established legal limits for contaminants and what is now considered safe for consumption. Although chromium-6 was present in the tap water of every county in the state of New Jersey, the highest concentrations were discovered in Bergen and Burlington Counties. In New Jersey for example, the group found 14 contaminants in Summit’s water supply that exceeded the recommended health guidelines from 2012-2017. The Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy nonprofit, recently released their findings from nearly 50,000 local water utilities in all 50 states. EWG Finds Contaminants in NJ Drinking Water Furthermore, the levels of chromium-6 present in over 150 New Jersey water systems indicate that our state’s drinking water supply may pose serious health risks. However, recent studies analyzing water quality across the country found levels of contaminants in all 50 states. A recent publication supports the original findings in China of increased cancer mortality in a population where well water turned yellow with chromium.While some people may recognize chromium-6 as the harmful chemical pollutant in the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, most of us probably thought the problem was handled long ago. A controversial issue is whether chromium causes cancer when ingested. Hexavalent chromium differs from arsenic in that it discolors water, turning the water yellow at high concentrations. We also review the increasing epidemiological evidence that the first step of methylation of inorganic arsenic to monomethylated arsenic (MMA) is actually an activation step rather than the first step in detoxification, as once thought. New studies address the dose-response relationship between drinking-water arsenic concentrations and skin lesions, and new findings have emerged concerning arsenic and cardiovascular disease. Early life exposure, both in utero and in childhood, has been receiving increased attention, and remarkable increases in consequent mortality in young adults have been reported. ![]() In this article we focus on recent findings, in particular those associated with major contributions since 2006. Yet almost every day, studies report a continually increasing plethora of toxic effects that have manifested in exposed populations throughout the world. Even at high concentrations, arsenic-contaminated water is translucent, tasteless, and odorless.
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