Facts About Chromium IV

Why Would You Want to Drink Poison?

We are all concerned about the safety of our water. The following report will give you the straight facts about Chromium VI.

1. The California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set the maximum contaminant level for total chromium at 50 parts per billion.

2. The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has set the Public Health Goal at 2.5 parts per billion total chromium and .2 parts per billion for chrom VI based on the assumption that chrom VI would be 7.2 % of total chromium. They set this low level based on the knowledge that chrom VI causes cancer and has mutagenic capabilities.

3. Recently both agencies became aware that chrom VI could actually be as high as 50-100% of total chromium.

4. The US Environmental Protection Agency, San Francisco stated that they are considering setting the maximum contamination down to 20 parts per billion later this year. (Groundwater Resources Association of California (GRAC) symposium January 25,2001).

5. Earlier this year, it was estimated that some 87 groundwater wells in the East San Fernando Valley were contaminated with Chromium IV; some above state and federal maximum contaminant levels. At the GRAC symposium officials said that over 250 groundwater wells in the East San Fernando Valley were contaminated and that chrom VI had migrated into superfund sights.

6. Late last year, LA Supervisor Michael Antonovich became very worried about chrom VI and asked Dr. Shindy, the Deputy Director of Environmental Toxicology Bureau at the Los Angeles County Agricultural Department of Weights and Measures, to do a 30-day study of chrom VI at 110 facilities in 71 cities county wide. This would be the first time it was tested at the faucet. The results were that facilities county wide tested positive for chromium VI.

While the debate rages on between the California agencies; they all agree that more testing needs to be done to better understand how much it will take to make a person sick. They know that chrom VI causes cancer and has mutagenic capabilities, yet these agencies continue to tell the public that the water is safe to drink. How can they guarantee your safety if they don’t know at what level you could be impacted?

Since the officials can’t tell me at what level it becomes lethal, I would prefer to walk on the side of caution and not drink it at all. Erin Brockovich posed the question late last year at a public hearing; "Why would you want to drink poison?"

Dr. Joseph K. Lyou, the Director of Programs for the California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Communities for a Better Environment, Legal Issues for Citizen and Environmental Groups brought up the following questions: Is it safe? Will my family be harmed? Who will guarantee my safety? How did this happen? What is the government going to do about it? Will the problem be solved? Accountability must be acknowledged.

I want to leave you with these two little questions. What does a frog do if you throw him in a pot of boiling water? He jumps out. What does a frog do if you dump him in a pot of cool water and then you slowly bring it to a boil? He just sits there and when he discovers what is happening, it’s simply too late.

—Jude Margolis, 323-644-1961, judemargolis@aol.com