Environment | Daily Report

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If state environmental and health regulators have their way, the chemical inspiration behind the true story of Erin Brockovich will be limited in state drinking water.

The state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment submitted a draft proposal last week to limit the amount of hexavalent chromium in to 0.02 parts per billion. If the proposal is adopted, California would become the first state to regulate the notorious cancer-causing chemical in drinking water.

The office had issued an earlier goal of 0.06 parts per billion but toughened its proposal after the draft was reviewed by state health scientists.

Sam Delson, spokesman for the environmental health office, said the public health goal is "scientific guidance, not an enforceable standard.”

Now it’ll be up to the state's Public Health Department to establish an enforceable standard in line with the new goal, Delson said.

Health Department spokesman Ken August said the law requires his department to set a standard as close as possible to the level recommended by the environmental health office but that the state will also consider factors such as whether the agency's goal is economically feasible.

August added that the state already has an enforceable standard for total chromium – hexavalent chromium is just one form of that metal.

Chromium is a naturally occurring metal found in rocks, animals, plants, soil and volcanoes. Hexavalent chromium is generally produced by industrial processes. It’s used in electroplating, stainless steel production, leather tanning, textile manufacturing and wood preservation.

It has been shown to cause lung cancer in humans when inhaled and is considered a human carcinogen by the U.S National Toxicology Program.

The Toxicology Program also found that it caused cancer of the digestive tract and mouth in laboratory animals that ate or drank the chemical in their food and water.

Just last month, the Environmental Working Group found levels that exceeded the state’s suggested limit in the drinking water of 31 U.S. cities.

The highest amounts were recorded in Norman, Okla., Honolulu and Riverside, Calif.

In California, the contaminant was also found in San Jose, Sacramento and Los Angeles.

California’s latest proposal is a draft, and the public has until 5 p.m. on Jan. 30 to provide written comment.