September 21,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, In the film “Erin Brockovich,” the environmental crusader confronts the lawyer of a power company that polluted the tap water of Hinkley, Calif., with a carcinogenic chemical called chromium-6. When the lawyer picks up a glass of water, Brockovich says: “We had that water brought in ‘specially for you folks. Came from a well in Hinkley.”The lawyer sets down the glass and says, “I think this meeting’s over.”
It’s almost 25 years after that real-life confrontation, the conflict over chromium-6 is not over. A new EWG analysis of federal data from nationwide drinking water tests shows that the compound contaminates water supplies for more than 200 million Americans in all 50 states.
Federal and state regulators are stalled with no national regulation of a chemical yet ,state scientists in California and elsewhere say causes cancer when ingested at even extraordinarily low levels.
Alarm bells have been rung by the Environmental Working Group a Environmental Advocacy group who’s mission is to empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. With breakthrough research and education, we drive consumer choice and civic action.
EWG says in 2008, a two-year study by the National Toxicology Program found that drinking water with chromium-6, or hexavalent chromium, caused cancer in laboratory rats and mice. Based on this and other animal studies, in 2010, scientists at the respected and influential California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment concluded that ingestion of tiny amounts of chromium-6 can cause cancer in people, a conclusion affirmed by state scientists in New Jersey and North Carolina. https://www.ewg.org/research/chromium-six-found-in-us-tap-water
In New Jersey, the press reported the water quality institute’s recommendation before it could be formally submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection for development of a regulation. According to former DEP planner Bill Wolfe, now an environmental advocate, this angered Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin, appointed by Gov. Chris Christie. Wolfe said Martin not only blocked submission of the recommendation, but effectively stopped the institute from meeting for four years,[15] delaying drinking water regulations for more than a dozen chemicals.
In a statement to EWG, a Department of Environmental Protection spokesman said the department “vehemently disagrees with the EWG’s contention that political pressure in any way influenced the New Jersey Drinking Water Quality Institute’s consideration of an MCL for chromium-6.” The spokesman said EWG’s characterization is based on the “opinion of a single, former NJDEP employee who was last employed by the agency 12 years ago,” and that EWG’s criticism is “critically flawed – and blatantly misleading.” https://www.ewg.org/research/chromium-six-found-in-us-tap-water
Human studies by government and independent scientists worldwide have definitively established that breathing airborne chromium-6 particles can cause lung cancer, and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration sets strict limits for airborne chromium-6 in the workplace. Whether inhaled or ingested, it can also cause liver damage, reproductive problems and developmental harm. Studies have found that exposure to chromium-6 may present greater risks to certain groups, including infants and children, people who take antacids, and people with poorly functioning livers. https://www.ewg.org/research/chromium-six-found-in-us-tap-water
In a 2009 letter the NJ DEP stated , “We agree that the results of the recently completed National Toxicology Program (NTP, 2007) chronic drinking water study indicate that hexavalent chromium is carcinogenic by ingestion. We also agree that development of an oral cancer slope factor for hexavalent chromium based on a non-threshold approach is appropriate, and that the data from the NTP (2007) study provide an appropriate basis for developing such an oral cancer slope factor. Prior to the completion of the NTP (2007) study, several laboratory animal and human epidemiology studies suggested that hexavalent chromium could be carcinogenic by the oral route, but no study showing this definitively or providing data suitable for quantitative risk assessment was available.” https://oehha.ca.gov/media/downloads/water/comment/112509nj.pdf
DEP Map : https://www.nj.gov/dep/airtoxics/chrommap.htm
Ridgewood Water Consumer Confidence Report :https://water.ridgewoodnj.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123&Itemid=67
