Cancer-Causing Chromium-6 Found in 1,247 of 1,417 Long Island Drinking Water Samples: Report

Nearly 90 percent of drinking water samples (1,247 of 1,417) on Long Island were found to be contaminated with chromium-6, the cancer-causing chemical made famous in the movie "Erin Brockovich," according to a report published Tuesday by the Environmental Working Group.

Although the water provided by local agencies does not exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's maximum of 100 parts per billion of total chromium, it does 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.

Chromium-6 can cause cancer, reproductive problems and liver damage even from little exposure, the report says.

Chromium-6 is dangerous, but a little perspective: at a level of 0.02 parts per billion, experts say chromium-6 will likely cause cancer in one out of 1 million people who drink the water for 70 years. At 10 parts per billion (and no Long Island water sample tested at even a twentieth of that), the number expected to get cancer rises to 500 out of 1 million people.

Less than two percent of water systems across the national have chromium-6 levels of higher than 10 parts per billion, the EPA says.

In Suffolk County, the average chromium-6 level is 0.431, based on tested water samples. In Nassau, it's 0.338.

California's public health goal of 0.02 parts per billion (the actual legal cap in California is 10 parts per billion) was set after Brockovich was nearly 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 nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that says it's 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.

The EPA says it is actively working on the development of the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment of chromium-6, which will include a comprehensive evaluation of potential health effects associated with it, and the EPA expects that the draft IRIS assessment will be released for public comment in 2017.

Here is the list of Long Island water systems that were tested for chromium-6, and the findings:

Suffolk County

• Suffolk County Water Authority
• South Huntington Water District
• Greenlawn Water District
• Riverhead Water District
• Dix Hills Water District
• Smithtown Water District
• Hampton Bays Water District
• Saint James Water District
• Stony Brook Water District

Nassau County

• Long Island American Water Corporation
• Aqua NY, Inc.
• Water Authority of Western Nassau
• Town of Hempstead Water District
• Jericho Water District
• Village of Hempstead
• Hicksville Water District
• South Farmingdale Water District
• Manhasset Lakeville Water District
• Massapequa Water District

Read the full report (and see an interactive map) at the Environmental Working Group website here.

Tom Davis contributed to this report. Patch file photo.