Mahwah Public Water System Has Toxin Made Famous By Erin Brockovich, Study Says

MAHWAH, N.J. — At least nine public water systems in Bergen County, including Mahwah's, tested positive for chromium-6, 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, it does exceed 0.02 parts per billion (ppb), 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.

Here are the local agencies and the average levels of Chromium-6 detected, according to the study:

• United Water NJ: Samples taken: 12, detects: 12, range: 0.034-0.33 ppb, average: 0.15 ppb
• Ridgewood Water: Samples taken: 56, detects: 56, range: 0.14-2.9 ppb, average: 0.40 ppb
• Fair Lawn Water Department: Samples taken: 20, detects: 18, range: 0.0-0.93. ppb, average: 0.28 ppb
• Garfield Water Department: Samples taken: 12, detects: 12, range: 0.033-3.8 ppb, average: 0.70 ppb
• Mahwah Water Department: Samples taken: 15, detects: 14, range: 0.0-0.37 ppb, average: 0.21 ppb
• Passaic Valley Water Commission, Lodi Water Department: Samples taken: 8, detects: 8, range: 0.038-0.098 ppb, average: 0.064 ppb
• Lyndhurst Water Department: Samples taken: 8, detects: 6, range: 0.0-0.068 ppb, average: 0.039 ppb
• Elmwood Park Water Department: Samples taken: 8, detects: 7, range: 0.0-0.12 ppb, average: 0.063 ppb
• Ramsey Water Department: Samples taken: 18, detects: 18, range: 0.044-1.8 ppb, average: 0.62 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.

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

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

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