New report finds 'Erin Brockovich' chemical in US drinking water

[senona]

Important information regarding water supply health issues.

Dangerous levels of chromium-6 are contaminating tap water consumed by hundreds of millions of Americans, according to a national report released Tuesday.

Chromium-6 is the carcinogenic chemical that was featured in the popular 2000 movie "Erin Brockovich," starring Julia Roberts as the titular activist. The US Environmental Protection Agency has never set a specific limit for chromium-6 in drinking water.

There is scientific uncertainty regarding safe levels of this chemical in drinking water and possible long-term consequences of ingestion.

But this new analysis from the Environmental Working Group, an independent advocacy group, examines evidence from water systems throughout the nation and concludes that the tap water of 218 million Americans contains levels of chromium-6 that the group considers dangerous.


"Whether it is chromium-6, PFOA or lead, the public is looking down the barrel of a serious water crisis across the country that has been building for decades," Brockovich said in a written statement Tuesday, blaming it on "corruption, complacency and utter incompetence."

Source


"Americans are exposed to dozens if not hundreds of other cancer-causing chemicals every day in their drinking water, their consumer products and their foods," Walker said. "And what the best science of the last decade tells us is that these chemicals acting in combination with each other can be more dangerous than exposure to a single chemical."


In 2008, a two-year study by the National Toxicology Program found that drinking water with chromium-6 caused cancer in laboratory rats and mice. 




Unregulated contaminants

"The EPA periodically does this: goes down and looks for what it calls unregulated contaminants," or chemicals in drinking water that are not regulated, Walker said. The EPA gathers its information through local utilities and then takes the results "under advisement," according to Walker.

According to the group, the report indicated that only one public water system had total chromium exceeding EPA standards, but 2% of the water systems -- 1,370 counties -- had chromium-6 levels exceeding California's standard of 10 ppb.

Oklahoma, Arizona and California had the highest average statewide levels and the greatest shares of detections above California's public health goal of 0.02 ppb, the report found.

Of major cities, Phoenix had the highest average level at almost 400 times this health goal. St. Louis County, Houston, Los Angeles and Suffolk County, New York, also had relatively high levels.

"The inability to complete health assessments is hindering health protective regulations," Andrews said.

"When you find widespread evidence of contamination, do something about it. Don't just study it to death," Walker said, adding that the new report is not about "trying to raise the alarm about a single chemical. We're kind of using chromium-6 as a poster child for systemic failures of drinking water regulation."

Think it is time for our government to step up to the plate, and fix our infrastructure, namely our water supply.
They can find the millions of dollars to send over seas to other countries, time for them to take care our their own country and the welfare of it's citizens.



Interactive Map-- Erin Brockovich' Chemical Taints Tap Water of 218 Million Americans