Toxin Made Famous By Erin Brockovich Detected In Atlantic County Water Systems, Study Says

Seven public water systems in Atlantic County tested positive for chromium-6, the the cancer-causing toxin that was made famous in the 2000 Julia Roberts movie "Erin Brockovich," according to a new study published Tuesday by the Environmental Working Group.

Although the water provided by local agencies does not exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection's maximum of 100 parts per billion of total chromium, two systems do exceed 0.02 parts per billion, a level that California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment set as a public health goal in 2011, the study explains. That level "would pose negligible risk over a lifetime of consumption," according to the study.

The other five entities remain below that level.

Here are the local agencies and the average levels of Chromium-6 detected, according to the study:
Atlantic City MUA: 0.038 ppb
Brigantine Water Department: 0.018 ppb
Egg Harbor City: 0.035 ppb
Hammonton: 0.008 ppb
Longport: 0.015 ppb
NJ American Water of Atlantic County: 0.032 ppb
The Oaks of Weymouth Water Company: 0.095 ppb

The toxin causes cancer, reproductive problems and liver damage even from little exposure, the report says. Environmental Working Group estimates that if left untreated, Chromium-6 in tap water will cause more than 12,000 excess cases of cancer by the end of the century.

California set 0.02 parts per billion as its goal after Brockovich was successful in building a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) of California in 1993 that blamed the company for contaminating local water.

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 showing that the compound contaminates water supplies for more than 200 million Americans in all 50 states.

"Yet federal regulations are stalled by a chemical industry challenge that could mean no national regulation of a chemical state scientists in California and elsewhere say causes cancer when ingested at even extraordinarily low levels," according to the report.

Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection, issued a statement, noting New Jersey utilizes the EPA’s standard for total chromium (see full statement below).

"No New Jersey water supplies have exceeded this level," he said. "New Jersey is participating in the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s collection of testing data for hexavalent chromium."

EPA STATEMENT ON CHROMIUM IN DRINKING WATER

Ensuring safe drinking water for all Americans is a top priority for EPA. The agency has taken many actions to improve information on chromium and its potential health risks in drinking water. EPA and states are responsible for ensuring that public water systems are in compliance with the current standard for total chromium.

The agency has also collected nationally representative data on the occurrence of both total chromium and hexavalent chromium through the third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3).

EPA is actively working on the development of the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment of hexavalent chromium, which will include a comprehensive evaluation of potential health effects associated with hexavalent chromium, and EPA expects that the draft IRIS assessment will be released for public comment in 2017.

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, before EPA can decide whether to regulate a contaminant, it must meet three criteria:
• The contaminant may have an adverse effect on the health of persons;
• is known to occur or there is a substantial likelihood that the contaminant will occur in public water systems with a frequency and at levels of public health concern; and
• in the sole judgment of the EPA Administrator, the regulation of the contaminant presents a meaningful opportunity for health risk reductions for persons served by public water systems.

EPA has a drinking water standard of 0.1 milligrams per liter (mg/l) or 100 parts per billion (ppb) for total chromium.

This includes all forms of chromium, including hexavalent chromium. Only one of the almost 5,000 public water systems that monitored total chromium under the UCMR3 reported results that exceeded EPA’s standard.

The State of California has promulgated an enforceable maximum contaminant level of 0.01 mg/l or 10 ppb for hexavalent chromium. While this standard only applies to water systems in California, less than 2 percent of the UCMR3 systems nationally reported hexavalent chromium at levels exceeding this standard.

Click here to see the full list of New Jersey towns included in this study.

Read the full study at the Environmental Working Group website here.

Patch file photo