The Environmental Working Group, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment, analyzed federal data from nationwide drinking water tests conducted from 2013 to 2015. The study shows communities throughout the U.S. are contaminated with the toxin Chromium 6.
Chromium 6 is a toxin made famous by the movie Erin Brockovich, based on the real-life environmentalist. Chromium 6 has been linked to forms of cancer, liver problems, reproductive problems and developmental issues.
The tests in Harris County determined that Chromium 6 was present in 46 of the 48 water systems in the Houston area.
Of the 30 samples taken in the City of Pasadena, four showed measurable amounts of Chromium 6 with an average of .006 parts per billion.
Tests were also conducted on water sources at Deer Park, La Porte, and the surrounding areas. The county wide average was 0.389 ppb.
By comparison, in the City of Houston alone, 199 samples were tested, with 178 of those samples testing positive. The average ppb in those tested were rated high at 0.75 ppb, with peak readings of 5.4 ppb.
The setting of Erin Brockovich’s real-world tests, Hinkley, California, showed an average of 1.19 ppb, with a peak of 3.09 ppb detected.
These are above the level that the California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment set as a public health goal in 2011. Officials there believe that the level of the contaminant can be harmful and pose a cancer threat for people who drink the water, bathe in it, or have any contact.
Source: Houston Patch, “Which Houston Area Communities Have Chromium 6 in Their Water — and How Much?” by Bryan Kirk (Patch Staff), September 22, 2016