The Issue
Chromium-6
EWG found cancer-causing chromium-6 in tap water from 31 of 35 cities it tested. Americans deserve the protection of official safety standards to protect our water and health. Learn more.
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The Latest on Chromium-6
This week, EWG joined the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in filing a suit against California regulators for failing to develop a drinking water standard to protect millions of state residents against contamination by hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6.
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The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group today sued the California Department of Public Health for failing to protect millions of Californians from hexavalent chromium, the cancer-causing chemical made infamous in the movie “Erin Brockovich” for contaminating drinking water and sickening residents in the town of Hinkley, California.
Read MoreIn 2010, EWG identified chromium-VI contamination in the drinking water of 31 of the 35 cities we tested. One Kentucky city has stepped up to solve that problem.
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People are messy. So is nature. And what people do when nature unleashes its fury often makes things worse.
The staff at Environmental Working Group took a look at the major environmental news stories of the year and came up with two lists: the Top 10 Good News stories and the Top 10 Bad News stories.
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EWG submits comments on EPA's IRIS program draft toxicological review of hexavalent chromium.
Read MoreAcross the nation, water agencies have conducted hundreds of voluntary tests for this pollutant in response to EWG's startling discovery in 2010 that chromium-6 contamination is widespread in Americans' water supplies.
Read MoreThe California Environmental Protection Agency has set a public health goal of 0.02 parts per billion for drinking water contamination with the carcinogenic compound hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6.
Read MoreThe Water Research Foundation, an offshoot of the American Water Works Association of water utilities, has accused Environmental Working Group of informing utility customers about the presence of chromium-6, a suspected carcinogen, in their tap water. "Reckless and irresponsible," the foundation claims.
Read MoreTap water industry representatives made no mention of their chromium-6 2004 study when they testified alongside EWG at a Feb. 2 Senate environment committee hearing on chromium-6 pollution.
Read MoreEWG’s study of chromium-6 contamination in tap water is not the first to attempt to assess chromium-6 pollution across the country.
Read MoreSome water utility representatives have protested Environmental Working Group’s report of laboratory tests that found worrisome levels of chromium-6, a suspected carcinogen, in the drinking water of 31 cities across the country. Yet the tap water industry was worried enough about the contaminant to conduct its own extensive survey in 2004 that found clear evidence of widespread chromium-6 pollution in untreated source water. The survey, conducted by the Awwa Research Foundation (since renamed the Water Research Foundation), an offshoot of the American Water Works Association, obtained data on 341 source water samples from 189 utilities in 41 states. The conclusion: chromium-6 is common in American groundwater.
Read MoreThe boom in natural gas drilling across the United States has spawned well-warranted fears that the fluids and chemicals used to free the gas from surrounding rock could pose a risk to drinking water supplies that tens of millions depend on.
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EWG urges California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to set a strict public health goal for hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium-6, a probable carcinogen, and move rapidly to establish an enforceable legal limit for the pollutant in drinking water.
Read MoreTesting by four municipal drinking water suppliers has confirmed the results of a study by the Environmental Working Group that detected widespread contamination by chromium-6, a suspected toxic carcinogen.
Read MoreEnvironmental Working Group's recent national study that detected widespread drinking water contamination by carcinogenic chromium-6 was the subject of intense discussion this morning at a well-attended and sometimes contentious 2½-hour U.S. Senate hearing.
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EWG president Ken Cook testifies that ensuring safe, accessible drinking water is a core responsibility of the U.S. government.
Read MoreThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promised to help local water utilities address public concerns over the possible presence of hexavalent chromium (chromium-6) in drinking water, and today it delivered.
Read MoreFor years, California officials have been working to set the nation's first-ever safety standard for the carcinogenic metal hexavalent chromium (chromium-6), commonly found in the state's drinking water. Last week (Dec. 31), after specifically evaluating the pollutant’s threat to infants, public health officials sharply lowered their proposed “public health goal” to 0.02 parts per billion (ppb) of chromium-6 in drinking water.
Read MoreJust two days after the release of Environmental Working Group's (EWG) analysis of chromium-6 (hexavalent chromium) contamination in the drinking water of 31 U.S. cities, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a comprehensive plan to help local water utilities address the problem.
Read MoreMillions of Americans are drinking water contaminated with the carcinogenic chemical that came to national attention in the 2000 feature film Erin Brockovich. Laboratory tests commissioned by EWG found hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6, in the drinking water of 31 of 35 selected U.S. cities. Among those with the highest levels were Norman, Okla.; Honolulu; and Riverside, Calif.
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