An analysis has shown that there might be a presence of carcinogen in tap water of 31 cities in the United States. This has raised some questions about the possible threats that it can pose to people all around affected communities.

The said chemical is hexavalent chromium. It is the same chemical that got public attention in the “Erin Brockovich” film shown in 2000. The chemical has caused cancer among laboratory animals, according to National Toxicology Programs, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Although basic water filters such as those made by Brita and PUR do not remove hexavalent Cr, several reverse-osmosis schemes designed for dwelling utilization can take the chemical substance out of water. These kinds of systems are available for online purchase and also available at hardware stores.

Bottled water is not necessarily an alternative because it is often reaped from municipal water systems and can even contain hexavalent Cr or other contaminations.

The analysis, discharged on Monday by the Environmental Working Group, is the first countrywide look at hexavalent atomic number 24 in drinking water to be created public. The protagonism grouping tried tap water from 35 cities and discovered hexavalent atomic number 24 in 31 of those biotic communities. Of those, 25 had degrees that were higher than a health finish advised last yr by the state of California.

Locally, Bethesda and Washington had degrees of .19 portions per billion, more than three times the California goal.

The federal government has not determined a boundary for hexavalent Cr in drinking water but is reviewing the chemical substance to decide whether it should levy such confinements.

According to Lynn Goldman, “This definitely raises the issue about a national drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium and why we don't have one.” Goldman is an epidemiologist and former top official at the Environmental Protection Agency and is also a dean of the School of Public Health at George Washington University.

Furthermore, Goldman said that there are needs for deeper investigation to help the study. She said, “This is the very first signal that there might be a problem. But it's premature to say we know really what the level (of contamination) is, whether it's there all the time or just intermittently and what the source is.”

Illinois senators Richard Durbin and Mark Kirk planned to assemble Tues with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to talk over the account, which determined hexavalent atomic number 24 in Michigan drinking water at about the same degrees as in Bethesda and Washington.