chromium six is a chemical known to
cause cancer it was made famous by the
movie Erin Brokovich in November of 2016
we begin tracking chromium six in
Houston's drinking water after tests by
channel 2 investigates showed elevated
levels of that chemical the city
promised to track the source ask first
study of cancer clusters and then
conduct more testing two years later we
have new test results health reporter
Haley Hernandez reveals what they show
and new plans to address these ongoing
concerns the numbers are in there's no
denying it people in Houston are
drinking chromium six scientists agreed
that at a certain point chromium six can
cause cancer what remains up for debate
whether the amount in our water is
harmful
while chromium six can be found in small
amounts across the city the zipcode
testing highest has us returning the
findings are quite startling year
reaching out to the Environmental
Protection Agency after year elevated
levels of a dangerous contaminant to zip
code seven seven zero nine nine and what
is polluting is bad is terrible a key
has lived in a leaf with his wife for
more than five years how do we get my
dog to drink it because the water is so
bad I use it on the plants pretty much
as I bought it but we've been drinking
more mana water since the report
councilmember Steve Lee represents the
district where numbers are elevated in a
leaf I feel for my neighbors who cannot
afford bottled water it's expensive in
2017 he asked the city to begin
specifically testing chromium six levels
more frequently and since our last
report the city tested the water two
more times here are the latest numbers
in Herald Square it's going up from 3.5
in 2014 to 4.2 last December and four
point three in 2018 on South Kirkwood
it's going down from six point seven in
2014 to five point five in December and
two point five in 2018 and the same is
true on dairy view lane five point four
in 2014
five point one in December and two point
four in 2018 in California their public
health officials say cancer rates start
to rise at a tiny concentration of 0.02
parts per billion it's not a happy
ending
obviously you know because you know any
amount is worth some amount is this from
the surface water which is the tap water
results Lee said hurricane Harvey could
offer one explanation with a huge influx
of water he wonders if chromium 6 just
got diluted Lee said residents may need
a reverse osmosis filtration system or
the city may need to reroute the areas
where they draw water both are costly
I'm still waiting for comes from and out
green to kind of get back to us and see
what kind of fun we can get last year
congressman green did author a
resolution asking for a tax break to
help people afford filtration systems
and he wrote the EPA asking for a
hearing but neither idea has gotten off
the ground we've been in contact with
the EPA not only with the letter we
been in contact with them about just
coming to Houston and he's asked the EPA
to come up with a standard for chromium
six in tap water in the meantime as a
key and his wife get ready to host
friends for lunch they'll make sure to
avoid the tap water I give him but water
drink I don't given city water last year
council member lee went to the state and
asked for a cancer cluster study to
determine if rates of cancer correspond
to the areas with the highest levels of
chromium six the state said that's still
in the works right now on collection
Houston comm we have the complete
results from the latest round of testing
look for them under the investigate
section Haley Hernandez KPRC Channel 2
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