WASHINGTON, DC, - Tap water from 31 of 35 U.S. cities tested contains hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6, according to laboratory tests commissioned by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group and revealed in a report Saturday. The highest levels were detected in Norman, Oklahoma; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Riverside, California.
The cancer-causing chemical is best known to the general public from the 2000 movie "Erin Brockovich," starring Julia Roberts.
The film dramatized the plight of the cancer-stricken residents of Hinkley, California, who in 1996 won a $333 million settlement from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for contaminating their tap water with hexavalent chromium.
The Environmental Working Group says, "Despite mounting evidence of the contaminant's toxic effects, including a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency draft toxicological review that classifies it as 'likely to be carcinogenic to humans' when consumed in drinking water, the agency has not set a legal limit for chromium-6 in tap water and does not require water utilities to test for it."
Hexavalent chromium is discharged from steel and pulp mills as well as metal-plating and leather-tanning facilities. It can pollute water through erosion of soil and rock, the EWG report shows.
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