By DORANY PINEDA (Associated Press)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities in California voted on Wednesday to introduce a restriction on drinking water for hexavalent chromium, a harmful chemical compound famously spotlighted in the movie “Erin Brockovich.”
The regulation marks the first time in the country that this particular heavy metal, commonly known as chromium-6, has been targeted with the aim of reducing long-term ingestion and subsequently lowering the incidence of cancer and kidney disease, according to state officials.
The proposal received a unanimous vote from the State Water Resources Control Board, although it still requires approval from the Office of Administrative Law before becoming effective.
This standard could encourage other states to establish their own regulations. An analysis of federal water testing data by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, suggests that more than 200 million Americans may have the chemical compound in their drinking water.
Up to this point, California had combined its drinking water criterion for chromium-6 with the less harmful trivalent chromium, which is an essential nutrient. The new limit set by California for chromium-6 is 10 parts per billion — roughly equivalent to 10 drops of water in a swimming pool.
“I know there’s mixed feelings about this decision today… that we should be at a lower standard,” board member Sean Maguire said before the vote. “But I do want to take a step back and look at California as compared to the rest of the nation, and I think here we are actually leading the way.”
Members of the community and health advocates are concerned that California’s restriction does not offer adequate protection from the metal. They are calling for the state to adopt a drinking water regulation closer to the public health target of 0.02 parts per billion, the level at which scientists have indicated there are no significant health risks.
“This really leaves a lot of California communities unprotected from that really potent carcinogen,” remarked Tasha Stoiber, senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group.
The board is legally obligated to establish a limit as close to the public health target as is feasible from an economic and technological standpoint.
Some public water providers cautioned that the new criterion will lead to increased water costs for customers, with the financial burden disproportionately affecting disadvantaged communities. Additionally, certain chemical industry groups have asserted that the restriction