Chromium Déjà Vu--All Over Again?

Concern Grows After the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Releases Report About Hexavalent Chromium (Cr+6)

A recent report conducted by the Environmental Working Group regarding the toxic chemical hexavalent chromium (Cr+6) has caused a nationwide stir.  If this all sounds somewhat familiar, you may recall that hexavalent chromium gained widespread attention back in 2000 with the release of the movie, Erin Brockovich. At that time the levels of hexavalent chromium being found in the Southern California desert community were in the hundreds of parts per million.

Now the EWG claims in their findings that the hexavalent chromium found in the tap water of 35 cities across the country averaged 3 times greater than California's proposed safety goal. Currently, the U.S. EPA has set 100 ppb as the legal limit for total chromium in tap water, with the California limit being 50 ppb. However, California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has set a public health goal for hexavalent chromium of 0.06 ppb and the EPA is compiling data and conducting a review of the matter. They expect to set a limit later this year.

How does this affect you? Despite the fact that it has not yet been regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, E. S. Babcock & Sons Laboratories routinely tests for low level hexavalent chromium and has done so for the past 10 years. Our state-of-the-art instrumentation is capable of achieving the low detection limit EPA has proposed. Babcock Laboratories uses EPA method 218.6 with modifications as suggested by the EPA.

"Our IC group has been using the modifications recently referenced by the EPA for at least three years. The method is being run on our Dionex 600DX Ion Chromatograph and we can reliably report down to 0.06 ppb with a method detection level of 0.007 ppb." - Allison Mackenzie, ESB CEO.

Although there is currently no regulation by the EPA for hexavalent chromium in drinking water, the Agency is recommending a 5 day holding time for drinking waters.

For more information about sampling and submitting your water for testing, please click here or give us a call at 951-653-3351. For further information on the Agency's recommendations, the EPA would like you to visit their site.