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Hexavalent Chromium - A Carcinogen That Should Be Reduced Immediately!

07/09/2016
by Γιάννης Μπουζάνας
Chromium - A Carcinogen That Should Be Reduced Immediately!

Introduction:

The following article describes in detail the important issue of Chromium 6, namely hexavalent chromium and the way they deal with it in America.


The California Department of Public Health has set new standards, that is, a new maximum limit for hexavalent chromium. Surely this move makes sense because it can prevent high cancer rates. The proposed model of 10 ppb (parts per billion) is the first limit ever to hexavalent chromium in America.

Chromium 6 or Hexavalent Chromium

Hexavalent Chromium, also known as Chromium - 6, is carcinogenic. "Erin Brockovich", released in 2000, focused on toxic heavy metal that contaminated water through industrial pollution in Hinkley, Mojave Desert. However, in various parts of the Coachella Valley, the hexagonal chromium "glides" into the aquifer.

Local officials say that 100 wells in the valley have water that exceeds the safety standards for hexavalent chromium, so they have to upgrade water treatment and filtration methods.
Water treatment and filtering
The cost of creating special water treatment plants can exceed $ 500 million, and if done, it will be the largest public work ever to be done in the history of the Valley. Of course, if the construction is actually done, it will add seven to fifty dollars a month to the water bill in each household. At this time, the average monthly bill is US $ 35.
Which model should be set
The maximum permitted hexavalent chromium is not a new issue. It's something that the state officials have been discussing for many years. Indeed, shortly after "Erin Brockovich," California has passed a law imposing this limit until its first of January 2004. Of course, this debate has been extended for years until a judge in 2012 ordered the state to set the maximum allowed until August 2016.
These maximum limits have long been established for the total Chromium 3 that is good for our organism and Chromium 6 that is not. The US Department of Environmental Protection has a 100 ppb standard, while California's maximum limit is 50 ppb. In 2011, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment set a "public health target" of 0.02 ppb for hexavalent chromium alone. The threshold of 10 ppb is 500 times greater than this optimal target. The 10 ppb level is about ten drops in a 10,000 gallon tank, that is, in a tank with about 38,000 liters of water.
Brockovich, a former law clerk whose crusade against Pacific Gas & Electric led to a $333 million compromise in the 1990s, expressed fears that the state did not set the threshold at 0.02 ppb. All ecological organizations agree.
Public Health Director Ron Chapman issued a statement stating that "the maximum permitted 10 ppb for hexavalent chromium will protect public health while taking into account economic and technical sustainability, as required by law."
Can it cause cancer?
At a meeting with the publishers of the newspaper Desert Sun last year, local officials reported that the Coachella Valley residents have been drinking this water for a century and there is no evidence of an increase in cancer rates. At Hinkley, too, the percentages were not elevated.
However, in 2008 the National Toxicology Program concluded that there are clear indications that hexavalent chromium causes cancer in experimental animals. A toxicological research by the EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) concluded that hexavalent chromium can cause cancer in humans.
The hexavalent chromium is listed as one of the 800 most dangerous chemicals that can cause cancer in California's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act as early as 1986.
A report from the World Health Organization announced in February estimated that cancer rates could rise by 57% over the next two decades. Apparently steps must be taken to prevent this.
Let's work together
The Office of Administrative Law has 30 days to approve the new standard, the new maximum limit for hexavalent chromium. The state must obviously give reasonable time for the design and construction of special water treatment and filtration plants.
Fortunately, CVWD is already using ion exchange resin technology to remove the arsenic. This process also removes hexavalent chromium. They have also been allocated funds for the research of new chromium-depleting abatement technologies.
All water suppliers in the region need to work together to overcome this challenge and protect the health of residents.
Hexavalent chromium in Greece
Do not think that because we are writing about America, that all of this seems distant to you. In Thebes, Chalkida and of course in the Mesapia area of Evia, the problem with hexavalent chromium is known.
Do not forget that in Greece the information on water quality goes unnoticed or simply the Greeks are indifferent to the quality of our water. We have the feeling in Greece that because we are going through an economic crisis, everything else has to be neglected. But we must not forget that we are water and we must protect the next generation from our own mistakes and our own omissions.
The analyzes shown in the following picture took place in 2009 in different regions:

Ask for water quality information in your area today or send samples of water to private laboratories. If you know exactly what your water problem is, then it is easy to deal with a home water filter. But first of all of course you need to know what water you drink.

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