Water is our life source, and it’s hard to believe that it could cause cancer. Recently, the Environmental Working Group released a report that found a carcinogen in the drinking water of 31 city’s tap water. One of our most valuable resources that we require for survival has now become a weapon thanks to a famous industrial chemical.
Remember the film “Erin Brockovich” in which Julia Roberts played a feisty and sexy legal assistant who helped bring justice to countless people who were drinking city water that was polluted by a California power company? Well, the same industrial chemical, hexavalent chromium, is a real life problem too.
The Environmental Working Group tested the drinking water from 35 cities and found hexavalent chromium, a cancer-causing chemical, in the drinking water samples from 31 cities. The top three places with the highest concentrations included Norman, Oklah.; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Riverside, Calif. View the complete list of cities here.
As of now, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn’t have a legal limit for hexavalent chromium or chromium-6 in tap water, but this new evidence might provide a basis for creating a limit.
Chromium-6 comes from steel mills, pulp (paper) mills, metal-plating factories and leather-tanning facilities. Basically, this chemical pollutes runoff and waste from these types of industry settings and eventually becomes absorbed into the ground. Here it leaches down into the soil and can come into contact with groundwater — this is how it can enter our drinking water supply.
This chemical has been found to be dangerous in laboratory animals. It increases the risk of gastrointestinal tumors, liver and kidney damage, anemia and ulcers. Earlier in the year (October), the EPA stated that this chemical is ‘likely to be carcinogenic to humans.’
Water contamination is a serious public health issue, and it’s not something that is going to go away anytime soon. As a result of industrial facilities and the wasteful way we consume, produce and dispose of items, preserving and conserving our water supply is going to be a constant battle to contend with. It’s important to stay abreast of the quality of water in your area and protect yourself against harmful contaminants like hexavelent chromium.
