Hexavalent Chromium [chromium-6] Discovered in U.S. Tap Water

http://www.worldnewsinsight.com/hexavalent-chromium-chromium-6-discovered-in-u-s-tap-water/2174/
Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Hexavalent Chromium [chromium-6] Discovered in U.S. Tap Water

Chromium Chromium, the chemical that was first brought to light when the movie “Erin Brockovich” covered the issues of groundwater contamination in California, has now been discovered in U.S. tap water.
A survey just released, has discovered that hexavalent chromium is present in the tap water supply of 31 cities across the United States. There were a total of 35 cities taking part in the tests.

Hexavalent Chromium is widely believed to be a carcinogen, as a result of laboratory testing on animals.

Currently, there are no legal limits for the quantity of this particular kind of chromium permitted in tap water and there is no legal requirements for utilities to carry out any testing for it. However, there is a legal limit of 100 parts per billion for the total chromium permitted to be present in tap water.

The state of California has set proposed limits of around 0.06 parts per billion.

25 of the 39 cities tested have levels higher than the California proposed safe minimum level. Some of those cities are registering at hundreds of times higher than that limit, according to the survey.

Leann Brown, a spokesperson for the group who carried out the survey, Environmental Working Group, stated “Some types of chromium are necessary and helpful to the body. But chromium-6 is extraordinarily harmful.”