Chromium 6 in L.A. County Tap Water?

Excessive levels of chromium 6, a suspected carcinogen, werefound in tap water tests of 100 Los Angeles County facilities, accordingto a state official; however, officials stressed that these werepreliminary results that need follow-up testing. The county tests wereconducted in 20 sites in each of the five supervisorial districts, andlevels of chromium 6 ranged from trace amounts to as high as 7.5 partsper billion. While the state's current standard for total chromium is 50ppb, the state Department of Health is studying a proposed new standardof 2.5 ppb. The state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessmentasserts drinking water should contain no more than 0.2 ppb of chromium6, while water officials counter that there is not enough scientificevidence linking chromium 6 to sickness, and current levels in drinkingwater are safe. In addition, the Los Angeles Department of Water andPower claim that tougher regulations would raise water rates by forcingthem to close some wells and import water.

Thanks to California 2000 Project