18 Bucks County Public Water Systems Have Toxin Made Famous By Erin Brockovich, Study Says

Eighteen public water systems in Bucks County 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, 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:

Lower Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority (0.36 ppb)
BCWSA Main - Lower South (0.37 ppb)
Aqua PA - Bensalem (0.13 ppb)
Warminster Municipal Authority (0.09 ppb)
PA American Water Co. - Yardley (0.11 ppb)
Northampton Bucks County Municipal Authority (0.092 ppb)
Newtown Artesian Water Company (0.16 ppb)
Aqua PA - Bristol (0.12 ppb)
Falls Township Water & Sewer Department (0.35 ppb)
Warrington Township Water & Sewer Department (0.99 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 actual legal cap in California is 10 parts per billion.

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 Pennsylvania towns included in the study.

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

Water contamination has been a prominent issue in parts of Bucks County, after elevated levels of perfluorinated compounds were found in water near the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base.

Patch file photo