Chemicals in the Water - Hexavalent Chromium found in Two US Cities' Supplies

If you've seen the movie Erin Brockovich, you've at least heard of hexavalent chromium.  According to Wikipedia, it is used in stainless steel and various other manufacturing processes.  It is a known carcinogen, was found in some water wells and was the basis for the lawsuit that made this movie famous.

What is interesting right now is that it has shown up in two CITY water supplies in the US.  Officials tested the water and found it to be exceeding their "recommended allowable levels" (as in "the levels of poison the government feels is safe for continued consumption - wrap your head around that one!)  

Instead of issuing a warning and recommending people switch to purified water sources, the government simply issued a statement that the water was safe to drink.  (Why do they bother setting maximum levels for poisons if nothing happens when those levels are approached, reached or exceeded?  -a mental image of an ostrich with their head in the sand is coming to mind here.)

Each year, governments assess what are called "emerging contaminants" - these are the drugs, chemicals and other substances that new testing has determined to be in the water we drink and use in our homes.  The term emerging contaminant doesn't mean the contaminant is only now in the water, it just means that someone finally got around for testing for it and the tests showed it was there.  Once detected, governments may then decide what maximum allowable levels are and also decide whether to make regulating it legal.  This step is not always taken, sometimes the contaminant is simply added to a list for "future consideration" (ie. read that as, "when enough people get sick or die from this contaminant in the water, and we can actually trace it back to this, THEN we'll do something about it.)

In a recent report published in the Globe Gazette, "federal and state regulations do not require regulators to monitor such chemicals, which now are showing up in trace quantities in drinking water supplies." 

As stated in the November 2008 edition of Water Technology Magazine, water treatment industry professionals “can offer the most advanced technologies available for dealing with endocrine-disrupting, pharmaceutical and personal care product residues in drinking water,” says Joe Harrison, technical director of the Water Quality Association (WQA). “We welcome the EPA benchmarks to guide our product development and performances in this new emerging area.”

Harrison says there’s no single technology that can address all emerging contaminants. He says, “It appears that reverse osmosis (RO), activated carbon blocks, and advanced oxidation, such as is achieved by combining in various degrees hydrogen peroxide, ultraviolet light and/or ozone … may show effectiveness in treating many of these.”

Recent additions to the emerging contaminant list include 10 pharmaceuticals, one antibiotic and nine hormones added to the list, as well as two disinfection byproducts, five microbes and a firefighting foam.

All we know for sure is that these contaminants are in the water.  Current regulations do NOT require testing for their levels, and no "safe" maximum contaminant levels have been set.  As a consumer, its time to ask yourself, "How much firefighting foam is a 'safe level' for my family to drink?"

I know what the answer is for my family...  If you are concerned about these contaminants in the water you drink, wash in and use in your daily life, see your local water treatment professionals.  Douglas Environmental Solutions is the authorized dealer for Hague Quality Water and helps concerned families deal with these problems quickly and easily.