Australia Kooragang Island, New South Wales Hexavalent chromium was released from the Newcastle
Orica Kooragang Island
ammonium nitrate plant on August 8, 2011. The incident occurred when the plant entered the 'start up' phase after the completion of a five-yearly maintenance overhaul. The process of converting the
High Temperature Shift catalyst to its active (reduced) form began by passing steam through the catalyst bed to heat it, to be discharged from the SP8 vent stack. The office of Environment and Heritage in Stockton collected 71 samples. Low levels of chromium were detected in 11 of them. NSW Health findings ruled that it is very unlikely that anyone in Stockton would later develop cancer as a result of the incident.
Bangladesh Toxic poultry feed contaminated by chromium-based
leather tanning waste products (as opposed to the non-toxic process of
vegetable tanned leather) has been shown to have entered the food supply in
Bangladesh through chicken meat, the most common source of protein in the country. Tanneries in
Hazaribagh Thana, an industrial neighborhood of
Dhaka, emit around of toxic waste each day, and generate as much as per day of scraps, trimmed raw hide, flesh and fat, which are processed into feed by neighborhood recycling plants and used in chicken and fish farms across the country. Chromium levels ranging from per kilogram were found in different organs of chickens which had been fed the tannery-scraps feed for two months, according to Abul Hossain, a chemistry professor at the
University of Dhaka. The 2014 study estimated up to 25% of the chickens in Bangladesh contained harmful levels of chromium(VI).
Greece Eastern Central Greece The chemistry of the groundwater in eastern
Central Greece (central
Euboea and the
Asopos valley) revealed high concentrations of hexavalent chromium in groundwater systems sometimes exceeding the Greek and the EU drinking water maximum acceptable level for total chromium. Hexavalent chromium pollution in Greece is associated with industrial waste. By using the
GFAAS for total chromium, diphenylcarbazide-Cr(VI) complex colorimetric method for hexavalent chromium, and flame-
AAS and
ICP-MS for other toxic elements, their concentrations were investigated in several groundwater samples. The contamination of water by hexavalent chromium in central Euboea is mainly linked to natural processes, but there are anthropogenic cases.
Thebes–Tanagra–Malakasa (Asopos) basin In the
Thebes–
Tanagra–
Malakasa basin of Eastern
Central Greece, an area that supports many industrial activities, concentrations of chromium (up to Cr(VI)) and Inofyta (up to Cr(VI) were found in the urban water supply of
Oropos). Chromium(VI) concentrations ranging from Cr(VI) were found in groundwater that is used for
Thiva's water supply.
Arsenic concentrations up to along with chromium(VI) levels up to were detected in
Schimatari's water supply. In the
Asopos River, total chromium values were up to , hexavalent chromium was less than , with other toxic elements relatively low. Later, 433 members of the
Oregon National Guard's 162nd Infantry Battalion were informed of possible exposure to hexavalent chromium while escorting KBR contractors. One of the National Guard soldiers, David Moore, died in February 2008. The cause was lung disease at age 42. His death was ruled service-related. His brother believes it was hexavalent chromium. On November 2, 2012, a
Portland, Oregon jury found KBR negligent in knowingly exposing twelve National Guard soldiers to hexavalent chromium while working at the Qarmat Ali water treatment facility and awarded damages of $85 million to the plaintiffs.
United States History of the EPA's chromium policies in the United States Prior to 1970, the federal government had limited reach in monitoring and enforcing environmental regulations. Local governments were tasked with
environmental monitoring and regulations, such as the monitoring of heavy metals in wastewater. Examples of this can be seen in larger municipalities, such as:
Chicago,
Los Angeles, and
New York. A specific example was in 1969, when the Chicago Metropolitan Sanitary District imposed regulations on factories that were identified as having large amounts of heavy metal discharge. With the formation of the EPA, the federal government had the funds and the oversight to influence major environmental changes. Following the formation of the EPA, the United States saw groundbreaking legislations, such as the
Clean Water Act (1972) and the
Safe Drinking Water Act (1974). The
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) of 1948 was amended in 1972 to what is more commonly known as the
Clean Water Act (CWA). The subsequent amendments provided a basis for the federal government to begin regulating pollutants, implementing wastewater standards, and increasing funding for water treatment facilities among other things. Two years later in 1974, the
Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was passed by congress. The SDWA aimed to monitor and protect the United States' drinking water, and the water sources it is drawn from. In 1991, as part of the SDWA, the EPA placed chromium under its list of maximum contaminant level goals (MCLG), to have a maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 100 ppb. In 1996, the SDWA was amended to include a provision known as the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR). Under this rule, the EPA issues a list of 30 or less contaminants that are not normally regulated under the SDWA. Chromium was monitored under the third UCMR, from January 2013 through December 2015. , "no federal or state laws restrict the carcinogen's presence in drinking water," according to the
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In December 2013, the NRDC won a lawsuit against the
California Department of Public Health, and the state was required to issue a standard on the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for chromium by "no later than June 15, 2014." The MCL was added to the
California Code of Regulations but, in 2017, another court ruled that the standard must be eliminated because the California Department of Public Health had not proven that the standard was economically feasible. Before the EPA can adjust the policy on chromium levels in drinking water, they have to release a final human health assessment. the
United States Army relied on hexavalent chromium compounds to protect its vehicles, equipment, aviation and missile systems from corrosion. The wash primer was sprayed as a pretreatment and protective layer on bare metal. From 2012 to 2015,
Army Research Laboratory conducted research on a wash primer replacement, as a part of the DoD's effort to eliminate the use of toxic wash primers in the military. The project resulted in the ARL qualifying three wash primer alternatives in 2015 For their efforts on the wash primer replacement, the ARL researchers won the
Secretary of the Army's "Award for Environmental Excellence in Weapon System Acquisition" for the 2016 fiscal year. The levels of hexavalent chromium were 8 to 10 times higher than the air district's acceptable level at Pacific Elementary School and the Davenport Fire Department. The city of Paramount created an action project that included more code enforcement to aid AQMD inspectors and the launch of ParamountEnvironment.org to keep the public informed. Over time, efforts by SCAQMD and the city of Paramount have been effective lowering emissions to acceptable levels.
Hinkley Hexavalent chromium was found in drinking water in the southern California town of
Hinkley and was brought to popular attention by the involvement of
Erin Brockovich and Attorney
Edward Masry. The source of contamination was from the evaporating ponds of a PG&E (
Pacific Gas and Electric) natural gas pipeline compressor station about 2 miles southeast of Hinkley. Between 1952 and 1966, chromium(VI) was used to prevent corrosion in the cooling stacks. The wastewater was dumped into the unlined evaporating ponds, and the chromium(VI) leaked into the groundwater. It also exceeded the California MCL of 50 ppb () for all types of chromium. California first established an MCL specifically for hexavalent chromium in 2014, set at 10 ppb; This finding conflicted with the conclusions reached by the EPA and California's Department of Public Health that chromium(VI) does in fact cause cancer, as explained in a 2013
Center for Public Integrity article published in
Mother Jones, critically evaluating that and other studies by researcher John Morgan. When a PG&E background study of chromium(VI) was conducted, average chromium(VI) levels in Hinkley were recorded as 1.19 ppb with a peak of 3.09 ppb. PG&E's Topock compressor station averaged 7.8 ppb and peaked at 31.8 ppb. The California MCL standard was still 50 ppb at the completion of this background study. The
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California EPA proposed in 2009 a health goal of 0.06 ppb of chromium(VI) in drinking water. In 2010, Brockovich returned to Hinkley in the midst of claims that the plume was spreading despite PG&E's cleanup activities. PG&E continues to provide bottled water for Hinkley residents, as well as offering to buy their homes. All other ongoing cleanup documentation is maintained at California EPA's page.
Illinois In
Chicago's first ever testing for the toxic metal contaminant, results show that the city's local drinking water contains levels of hexavalent chromium more than 11 times higher than the health standard set in California in July 2011. The results of the test showed that the water which is sent to over 7 million residents had average levels of 0.23 ppb of the toxic metal. California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment designated the nation's new "public health goal" limit as 0.02 ppb. Echoing their counterparts in other cities where the metal has been detected, Chicago officials stress that local tap water is safe and suggest that if a national limit is adopted, it likely would be less stringent than California's goal. The
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) has developed a chromium(VI) strategic plan which outlines tasks in order to reduce the levels of chromium(VI) in Illinois' drinking water. One of which is to work with the U.S. EPA to provide significant technical assistance to the City of Chicago to ensure they quickly develop an effective chromium(VI) specific monitoring program that makes use of the U.S. EPA-approved methods.
Massachusetts Cambridge Plating Company, now known as Purecoat North, was an electroplating business in
Belmont, Massachusetts. A report was conducted by the
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), to evaluate the association between environmental exposures from the Cambridge Plating Company and health effects on the surrounding community. The report indicated that residents of Belmont were exposed to chromium via air emissions, as well as groundwater and soil. However, six types of cancer were evaluated, and the incidence was actually found to be average, in most cases, across all types, if not a little bit lower than average. In 2010 a government study found hexavalent chromium within the soil but not at levels that were hazardous to human health. In 2012, the case ruled that $10 million would be distributed to over a dozen farmers affected in the northwest Missouri area. The Tanning Corporation still denies that their fertilizer caused any harm. Some residents claim that the tumors were a direct cause from the chromium exposure, but it is difficult to determine what other future impacts might arise from exposure in the specific Missouri counties.
Michigan On December 20, 2019, a green substance leaking onto
I-696, in
Madison Heights, was identified as hexavalent chromium that had leaked from a basement of a local company, Electro-Plating Services. In July 2022, an employee at the automotive supply company Tribar Technologies overrode alarms, leading to the release of hexavalent chromium into the
Wixom wastewater system. The state of Michigan issued a no-contact order with
Huron River water near the spill, but this order was lifted after revised estimates concluded that less than 20 pounds of chromium had reached the river.
Texas On April 8, 2009, the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) collected ground water samples from a domestic well on West County Road 112 in
Midland, Texas (U.S.), in response to a resident complaint of yellow water. The well was found to be contaminated with chromium(VI). The Midland groundwater reached higher levels of contamination than the EPA mandated maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 100 parts per billion. The current groundwater plume of chromium lies under approximately 260 acres of land at the West County Road 112 Groundwater Site. In response, the TCEQ installed filtration systems on water-well sites that showed contamination of chromium. , TCEQ had sampled water from 235 wells and has installed over 45 anion-exchange filtration systems from this site The TCEQ continues to sample wells surrounding the area to monitor the movement of the plume. In addition, they continue to monitor the effectiveness of the anion-exchange filtration systems by sampling on a year-quarterly and the filters are maintained at no cost to the residents. , the West County Road 112 Ground Water site was added to the
National Priorities List (NPL) also known as the Superfund List by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Further testing was being conducted . There was no further information available . == See also ==