You may have received an email in recent weeks regarding the presence of hexavalent chromium in the College of the Desert Palm Desert campus water supply, which may have left you wondering what hexavalent chromium is and whether you should be concerned.
Hexavalent chromium, which is also labeled as Chromium(VI), was not found in significant levels in water at COD, and at least at the time of writing, does not pose a significant health risk. Should the levels increase over the coming years, however, this could change. Companies in California have shown in the past, in at least one high-profile example, a willingness to ignore hazardous levels of hexavalent chromium in groundwater until it poses indisputable widespread public health effects.
While trivalent chromium, or Chromium(III), is widely considered to be harmless when consumed, hexavalent chromium is an extremely harmful substance when present in sufficient quantities and is especially harmful if it becomes airborne, through either dust or smoke. Under these conditions, hexavalent chromium poses its most well-researched dangers, causing ulcerations in the mouth, nasal passages, throat, and lungs. By handling hexavalent chromium without proper protective equipment, contact dermatitis and an ulcerative skin condition colloquially known as “chrome hole” can also be observed. This same ulcer-causing toxicity has been observed in the lower intestines of laboratory test rats after ingesting hexavalent chromium, pointing to the same issues persisting in ingestion that present themselves in inhalation.
The far more pressing concern with hexavalent chromium, however, is the effects of long-term exposure. Because of the ethical concerns inherent in attempting to create a proper double blind human trial for toxic substances, we do not have sufficient information on the minimum safe content of hexavalent chromium in an individual’s regular diet, but California has set that limit at 10μg/l, a threshold which our drinking water at COD exceeded by 40% over an undisclosed period of time. Long-term exposure to high levels of hexavalent chromium has been linked to a greatly increased risk of cancer, with the International Agency for Research on Cancer placing it in group 1 of human carcinogens. While these effects are certainly worse at higher levels of exposure, some experts explain that there is no safe level of exposure to a substance this toxic and carcinogenic. This means that while the lifetime exposure risk may be less substantial for students, for professors and staff on campus, it becomes more significant.
The notice provided by the Coachella Valley Water District, the entity responsible for testing and maintaining these standards for large portions of the valley, neglected to notify the College of the Desert of the results of this test until 44 days afterwards. They did, however, notify College of the Desert the very next day after a request for public records was made to the Coachella Valley Water District by the Chaparral News Team about seemingly unrelated issues. As this is new legislation, there is no real requirement to notify people of the presence of this particular toxic and carcinogenic material before October of next year, when major water suppliers are expected to comply.
College of the Desert maintenance staff have immediately begun taking steps to mitigate the spread of the substance and notified students and staff in a timely manner. There are plans to potentially install point-of-use filtration units in areas with significant potable water use on campus. The college will notify students and staff if any specific actions are taken regarding hexavalent chromium on campus.
