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State pushes costly new water standard

Posted by: Maven on February 11, 2010 at 7:56 am

From the Cal Watchdog blog:

“California water agencies face a groundbreaking proposal to eradicate — at what could be a high cost to ratepayers — all but trace levels of hexavalent chromium, the industrial byproduct made famous by the movie Erin Brockovich a decade ago.

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment draft health goal of 0.06 parts per billion of hexavalent chromium (also known as chromium VI or chromium 6) announced in 2009 would be the first step in the country to isolate, let alone shrink by three orders of magnitude, the presence of the anti-corrosive in drinking water. The federal government currently only regulates total chromium (chromium VI and beneficial chromium III) levels at 100 parts per billion. The state limit is 50 parts per billion. The cities of Burbank, Glendale and Los Angeles adopted voluntary chromium limits of 5 parts per billion.

Danielle Blacet, regulatory advocate for Sacramento-based Association of California Water Agencies, questioned the science behind the ambitious health goal. “While we recognize … the known toxicity of hexavalent chromium via inhalation… ACWA is concerned that the result of … referenced studies do not sufficiently demonstrate the human carcinogenicity of hexavalent chromium in drinking water,” Blacet said in a public letter during the comment period for the draft goal.

One study referenced by the Office of Environmental Health decision was a 2007 National Toxicology Program examination of gastrointestinal tumors in rats given varying doses of sodium dichromate dihydrate over a two-year period. It concluded that increased incidences of rare cancer in the mouth and lining of the small intestines that reduced body weight and water consumption qualified the chemical as a carcinogen when ingested. … “

Read more from the Cal Watchdog blog by clicking here.

February 11, 2010 · Filed Under Drinking Water & Bottled Water

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