California Proposes Drinking Water Standard for Hexavalent Chromium

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced last month that it has proposed the nation’s first drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium (chromium-6).  The proposed Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 10 parts per billion (ppb) is expected to be adopted following the public comment and review process.

The proposed regulations specifically limit the hexavalent form of chromium.  California’s current total chromium standard is 50 ppb, which includes both trivalent chromium (chromium-3) and hexavalent chromium (chromium-6).  Chromium-3 is an essential nutrient, while chromium-6 is a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer.

California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard has designed chromium-6 as a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive harm.  Under Proposition 65, companies offering products for sale in California that contain toxic chemicals (such as chromium-6) must first provide consumers with a health hazard warning.  The Chanler Group’s citizen enforcer clients have found chromium-6 in a number of consumer products, including power tools, tableware, and paints, without the required health hazard warning, and taken steps to enforce the law.

The Chanler Group represents citizen enforcers who, acting in the public interest, commence actions against businesses offering products for sale in California that contain chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm without first providing the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65. Citizen enforcers bringing Proposition 65 actions in the public interest may obtain a Court Judgment imposing civil penalties, an injunction requiring reformulation of products, and/or provision of health hazard warnings. The Chanler Group has represented citizen enforcers of Proposition 65 for more than twenty years.