Study found highest levels in 5 cities – including Riverside, California
by USAToday / December 20, 2010
The tap water of many U.S. cities tested contains hexavalent chromium, a probable carcinogen made famous by the film “Erin Brockovich,” an environmental group reports Monday.
The study by the Environmental Working Group, the first nationwide analysis of the chemical in U.S. water to be made public, detected its presence in 31 of 35 cities tested.
It found the highest levels in Norman, Okla.; Honolulu, Hawaii; Riverside, Calif; Madison, Wisc., and San Jose, Calif.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering whether to set a limit for hexavalent chromium in tap water after the National Institutes of Health deemed it a “probable carcinogen” in 2008.
The chemical has been linked in animals to leukemia and other cancers as well as liver and kidney damage. Currently, EPA restricts the amount of “total chromium” in drinking water, which contains both hexavalent and trivalent form
For the remainder of this article at USAToday, go here.
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering whether to set a limit for hexavalent chromium in tap water”
They haven’t already done that?!?!