![]() Several hundred drinking water wells throughout the state exceed the State Water Resources Control Board’s proposed standard of 10 parts per billion. ![]() The highest levels are reported in parts of Ventura, Los Angeles, Yolo, Merced and Riverside counties. Then it can penetrate the cell, bind to DNA and cause genetic damage."īecause exposure to chromium (VI) happens mostly from breathing workplace air or ingesting water or food from soil near waste sites or industries that use chromium, Professor Bino suggested that the air and water surrounding every chromium (VI)-emitting plant be monitored.Ī version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on March 29, 2000.Once finalized, the standard would be a first in the nation to specifically target hexavalent chromium. It can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled. "The problem is when it gets into the body as chromium (VI). "Usually, chromium (VI) is reduced to chromium (III) and nothing happens," Professor Bino said. Chromium (VI) comes down with rain and we breathe it." He cited estimates that 75,000 tons of chromium (VI) are emitted globally every year through manufacturing processes, plus about another 18,000 tons from natural sources such as volcanoes. "The problem is not confined to a certain plant - it is becoming global because of emissions to the atmosphere. "Releasing chromium (VI) into the atmosphere or onto the ground is totally forbidden, but for many years, some of those factories didn't comply," said Professor Bino, who noted that his expertise is not ecology or cancer. It's estimated that 200,000 tons of chromium, 5 percent of which is chromium (VI), is in the New York area alone, he added. Some of the first plants in the country to produce chromium as a byproduct were in Madison County, NJ, and the chromium mud they created was dispersed all over the country, he said. In the last decade, millions and millions of tons have been dumped into rivers, soil, the oceans and the atmosphere." "It is becoming more and more ubiquitous as we dump millions of tons of chromium all over the place. "Chromium is ubiquitous," Professor Bino said. settled with plaintiffs in 1996 for $333 million, the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit in US history. As a result of the efforts of the real-life Erin Brockovich, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. "Chromium (VI) is bad news for biological systems," Professor Bino said.Ĭhromium is produced by burning coal and fossil fuels, stainless steel plating, chrome plating and leather tanning, among other processes. Workers exposed to chromium (VI) have an increased risk of lung cancer high doses have been associated with birth defects. ![]() Manufacturing or disposal of products or chemicals containing chromium, or burning of fossil fuels release odorless, tasteless chromium (VI) into the air, soil and water. Some chromium (III) compounds are an essential nutrient that occur naturally in the environment. A visiting scientist at MIT says that the chemical responsible, chromium (VI), is a growing global health issue.Īvi Bino, a chemistry professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who is currently conducting research at MIT, spoke March 22 on "Models for the Interaction of Carcinogenic Chromium (VI) with DNA" as part of the MIT chemistry department's Inorganic Chemistry Seminar Series.Ĭhromium has three main forms: chromium (0), chromium (III) and chromium (VI). In the new hit movie Erin Brockovich, the main character discovers a cover-up involving contaminated water that causes devastating illnesses among residents in a California community.
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