What's in Tallahassee's tap water?
FSU professors talk about chromium and a recent tap-water study
Media contact:
Kathleen Laufenberg
By Kathleen Laufenberg
If you go
What: Science Café - What's in Tallahassee's tap water?
When: 6:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 3
Where: Ray's Steel City Saloon (downstairs), 515 John Knox Road
Cost: Free
More info: Roxanne Hughes or (850) 645-7300
Chromium-6, the same hazardous chemical that made Erin Brockovich famous, is in Tallahassee's drinking water — but is there enough of it there to be a concern? Most would say no, a few would say maybe, and one or two might even say yes. Fortunately, you have a chance to learn more about this controversial chemical and its presence in your drinking water at the upcoming May 3 Science Café.
That's when Magnet Lab scientist Vincent Salters will share the results of a study he recently did with the help of oceanographer Bill Landing and several Florida State University students. Together, the professors and their students analyzed 41 water samples taken from residents' tap water, city wells and Wakulla Springs.
"The level of chromium that you would expect in the water here should be extremely low: less than one-tenth parts per billion (0.1 ppb)," said Salters, an FSU professor of geochemistry. "The levels that we found are between 0.8 and 1.4 ppb."
All of the chromium levels in Tallahassee's water are far below the federal standard, which is 100 ppb. California, however, has adopted a significantly lower public-health goal for the toxic form of chromium in its drinking water.
Mag Lab tests uncover arsenic in man’s well water
When Mark Forare, a retired policeman, came to the Magnet Lab’s Open House in February, he had no idea his visit would change his life. Or at least his drinking water. Read more
Science Café kicks off at 6:15 p.m. at Ray's Steel City Saloon, 515 John Knox Road. The event, which is presented by the National High Magnet Field Laboratory, will last until about 7:30 p.m. It's free.
Also speaking will be Robert Deyle, a Florida State University professor of environmental planning. Deyle will offer a brief overview of public-health concerns regarding the dangerous form of chromium, which is chromium-6 or hexavalent chromium.
Chromium is a metal naturally present in the earth's crust. But chromium-6 is a toxic form of chromium used in various industrial processes, such as to make stainless steel, tan hides, etc. Chromium-6 has been linked to stomach cancer and other health problems.
Most people first learned about the potential carcinogenic danger of chromium-6 in 2000, when the film "Erin Brockovich" was released. The movie retold the true story of the polluted drinking water of Hinkley, Calif., whose residents were awarded a $333-million settlement from Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the source of the town's groundwater contamination. Hinkley's drinking water reportedly had as much as 580 ppb of chromium-6 in its tap water, which is well over the EPA's standard of 100 ppb for total chromium.
The EPA's standard for total chromium is a figure that includes chromium-6. Most cities test only for total chromium. It takes more money, time and expertise to test for chromium-6. If a city's test result for total chromium is high, then it tests specifically for chromium-6. Salters found that, in his Tallahassee area samples, chromium-6 made up anywhere from 60 to 90 percent of the samples' total chromium concentration.
Salters got interested in the topic of chromium in drinking water after a national advocacy group, the Environmental Working Group, released the results of a drinking water study in December 2010. Its analysis of the tap water of 35 cities found that 31 had chromium-6 in their water. Of the 31 cities, Tallahassee had 1.25 ppb — the sixth highest level. All the cities' chromium-6 levels were well below the EPA's accepted total chromium level.
In the wake of the Hickley, Calif. settlement, the EWG's assertion that chromium-6 is more widespread in drinking water than generally assumed and for other reasons, the EPA may change its 20-year-old chromium standard this year. It may lower its acceptable level for chromium or create a new regulation for chromium-6.
California has set a much lower public-health drinking-water goal for chromium-6 of 0.06 ppb. But that goal is not enforceable — and California has not set an enforceable drinking-water standard based on that goal.
In an unfortunate twist of events, the town of Hinkley is once again facing chromium-6 contamination. In a Nov. 15 Los Angeles Times story, Hinkley resident Lillie Stone told the Times that her drinking water tested at 2.9 ppb for chromium-6. But, she added, "a PG&E representative sat right here at my table and said he wouldn't even consider buying us out until we reach 4 ppb." PG&E is supplying bottled water to some Hinkley residents, according to the article, and a hearing is scheduled for this month.
To hear more about chromium and Tallahassee's tap water — including Salters' ideas about where the chromium-6 in our drinking water may come from — pull up a chair at Science Café. Come early to get a good seat.
Posted April 25, 2011
Mag Lab tests uncover arsenic in man’s well water
By Kathleen Laufenberg
When Mark Forare, a retired policeman, came to the Magnet Lab’s Open House in February, he had no idea his visit would change his life. Or at least his drinking water.
But that’s what happened after the Magnet Lab tested Forare’s well water.
Forare, who retired five years ago and moved with his wife to a 47-acre homestead near Havana, was one of about 100 people who left the lab’s annual Open House with a drinking-water test kit. He filled it up with a sample of his drinking water and returned it to the Mag Lab for an in-depth analysis.
The water sampling was part of a drinking-water study launched by Vincent Salters, a Mag Lab scientist and professor of geochemistry at Florida State University. Salters was interested in investigating the levels of chromium and chromium-6 in the tap water of Tallahassee and surrounding areas. Of the 100 samples he gave out at Open House, 20 were eventually returned, including Forare’s. The study has since closed.
For Forare, a Miami-Dade police officer for 28 years before moving to Gadsden County, it was a welcome opportunity.
“When I heard about the study, I thought, this is great,” he said. “We’ve had our water checked for microorganisms, but we never had it checked for any heavy metals.”
Still, he was stunned when his water came back with arsenic contamination.
“There was no other way I would have ever found this out,” he said. “I am very happy to have gotten access to the state-of-the-art equipment and the expertise you have out there (at the Mag Lab).”
Forare’s water came back at 11 parts per billion of arsenic, an odorless and tasteless semi-metal that can enter drinking water from natural earth deposits or from agricultural and industrial sources. The standard is no more than 10 ppb. When it was retested at the Mag Lab, his water had 14 ppb of arsenic.
After high levels of arsenic were found in Forare’s well, the Mag Lab tested several surrounding neighbors’ drinking water. At least one neighbor also had unacceptably high levels of arsenic in his water.
Forare is installing a reverse-osmosis system to filter out the arsenic.
“My only regret,” he said, “is that I didn’t have my water tested sooner.”
Posted April 26, 2011
The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory develops and operates state-of-the-art, high-magnetic-field facilities that faculty and visiting scientists and engineers use for research. The laboratory is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the state of Florida. To learn more visit www.magnet.fsu.edu.
