LOS ANGELES (AP) — California regulators voted Wednesday to impose a drinking water limit for hexavalent chromium, a toxic chemical compound made infamous by the film “Erin Brockovich.”
The rule is the primary within the nation to specifically goal the heavy metal referred to as chromium-6 and is anticipated to scale back cases of cancer and kidney disease through long-term use, state officials say.
The proposal was unanimously approved by the State Water Resources Control Board but requires approval from the Office of Administrative Law to take effect.
The standard could encourage other states to adopt their very own. More than 200 million Americans are estimated to have the chemical compound of their drinking water, in response to an evaluation of federal water testing data by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization.
Previously, California combined its drinking water standard for chromium-6 with the less toxic trivalent chromium, a necessary nutrient. California's latest limit for chromium-6 is 10 parts per billion – about 10 drops of water in a swimming pool.
“I know there are mixed feelings about this decision today … that we should have a lower standard,” board member Sean Maguire said before the vote. “But I want to step back and look at California compared to the rest of the country, and I think we're actually leading the way here.”
Community members and health advocates fear that California's limit doesn’t do enough to guard public health from the metal. They want the state to adopt a drinking water limit that’s closer to the health goal of 0.02 parts per billion, a level that scientists say poses no significant health risks.
“This really leaves many California communities unprotected from this really powerful carcinogen,” said Tasha Stoiber, senior scientist on the Environmental Working Group.
The Board is required by law to set a limit that approximates the general public health goal as economically and technically feasible.
Some public water utilities warned that the brand new standard would make customers pay more for water and the financial burden would disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities. And some chemical industry groups have said the limit shouldn’t be based on the most recent science.
The state water agency estimates the brand new limit will cost public water systems $483,446 million to $172.6 million annually to watch and treat water that exceeds the usual.
Cástulo Estrada, executive vp of the Coachella Valley Water District and utility manager for the town of Coachella, said the limit would have an “unprecedented” impact on residents and customers. He said all six of the town of Coachella's wells have chromium-6 levels above 10 parts per billion and that installing technology to scale back the degrees to the limit would cost an estimated $90 million. “That would increase the monthly bills.”
Ana Maria Perez, a Monterey County resident, urged the board to set a lower limit that may protect communities with chronic water pollution. “We have been waiting for a chromium-6 limit that protects our health,” she said in Spanish. “It’s not fair that a lot of people have to get sick.”
Water utilities must begin testing for chromium-6, which occurs naturally and is produced in industrial processes, inside six months of the expected entry into force, likely in October. If water tests are above the limit, they have to submit a compliance plan inside 90 days and comply with it inside two to 4 years, depending on how many purchasers are served.
Chromium occurs naturally in soils, plants, animals, rocks and more and might leach from the soil into groundwater. It is available in various forms, including chromium-6, and is utilized in electroplating, stainless-steel production, leather tanning, textile manufacturing and wood preservation, all of which might contribute to drinking water pollution, in response to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
While scientists have known for many years that inhaling chromium-6 could cause lung cancer, it has long been uncertain whether ingesting chromium-6 also can cause cancer.
Studies from the National Toxicology Program have modified that. The results showed that rodents that drank water high in chromium-6 for 2 years developed colon and oral cancer.
Some researchers criticized the studies, saying the chemical concentrations given to the rodents were 1000’s of times higher than U.S. drinking water supplies.
The California Environmental Health Agency is updating its health goal for hexavalent chromium, which was set at 0.02 parts per billion in 2011. At this level, the lifetime risk of cancer is one in 1,000,000, a figure widely accepted by health experts.
Some health advocates urged the board to attend to set a limit until an updated public health goal is released. But some environmental justice nonprofits that support a lower limit said the board shouldn't wait any longer.
With California's latest limit, the danger of cancer is 500 times higher than the general public health goal. One in 2,000 people exposed to drinking water containing 10 parts per billion of chromium-6 for 70 years could develop cancer, in response to a state water staff report.
Studies on the health effects of chromium-6 intake through drinking water are limited, said Maria-Nefeli Georgaki, an environmental health specialist who has studied the health effects of chromium-6 intake. However, she added that a maximum level of 10 parts per billion is a crucial place to begin, which should then be “adjusted at certain regular intervals both as public health issues emerge and as new research data emerge.”
Water staff must review standards every five years. But during Wednesday's meeting, Darrin Polhemus, deputy director of the water authority's drinking water division, said they’re continually reviewing standards.
In 2014, the state adopted a ten parts per billion limit, however it was repealed in 2017 since it didn’t consider whether the rule can be economically feasible.
The standard is the most recent chapter in a decades-long battle over regulation of the chemical that gained notoriety with the 2000 film “Erin Brockovich,” which won Julia Roberts the Oscar for best actress. In the Nineties, Brockovich helped investigate groundwater contaminated with chromium-6 that sickened a Southern California community. Residents ultimately won a $333 million settlement with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. over contamination of their water.
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