WASHINGTON (June 16, 2023) — Today, the American Chemistry Council, the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, the California Chamber of Commerce and the California League of Food Producers issued the following statement on the State Water Resources Control Board’s proposed rule to lower the maximum contaminant level for hexavalent chromium:
“The State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) proposed rule to establish a maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 parts per billion (ppb) for hexavalent chromium is not based on the most up-to-date science, is not consistent with the findings of other authoritative bodies and would increase the cost of water without providing a meaningful improvement in public health.
“An MCL of 10 ppb for hexavalent chromium is based on the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s (OEHHA) public health goal (PHG), which was first adopted in 2011, before the publication of a large body of high-quality scientific research designed to understand how exposure to hexavalent chromium in drinking water can increase the risk of adverse health effects like cancer. In addition, OEHHA’s PHG is supposed to be reviewed at least once every 5 years and should have been revised in 2016 and again in 2021 based on the availability of newly published research.
“In the last 12 years since OEHHA’s public health goal was adopted, over 30 studies have been published in the peer-reviewed literature that investigated not only what levels of hexavalent chromium in drinking water can result in adverse health effects, but also the biological processes by which hexavalent chromium causes those effects. This body of research shows no observed toxicity in rodents exposed to concentrations equal to the current U.S. EPA total chromium MCL of 100 ppb and supports that the current EPA MCL is health protective. In addition, other authoritative bodies, including Health Canada and the World Health Organization, have set health protective drinking water guidelines at 50 ppb total chromium, which are designed to protect against exposures to hexavalent chromium. This is the same level at which California already regulates total chromium.
“Setting the MCL at 10 ppb for hexavalent chromium would not provide a meaningful improvement in public health but would have significant impacts on affected water providers and rate payers, including making water less affordable in economically disadvantaged communities. As the California Department of Finance stated in its comments on the SWRCB’s draft Standardized Regulatory Impact Assessment (SRIA) for the hexavalent chromium MCL, these differential impacts should be disclosed and evaluated in the SRIA, and that analysis should help inform the selection of a proposed MCL.
“We look forward to engaging with the SWRCB as well as submitting comments and participating at upcoming public hearings on this issue.”
