Chromium (hexavalent)

Status: No national drinking water standard exists

Chromium (hexavalent) is a carcinogen that commonly contaminates American drinking water. Chromium (hexavalent) in drinking water may be due to industrial pollution or natural occurrences in mineral deposits and groundwater. Read more about chromium (hexavalent).

2013-2019:

FOUND

FOUND ABOVE HEALTH GUIDELINES

states detected

8,654

utilities detected

251 million

people served

states over health guideline

8,168

utilities over health guideline

233 million

people served over health guideline

Health concerns for chromium (hexavalent)

Cancer

Harm to the liver

Harm to the reproductive system

State and national drinking water standards and health guidelines

EWG Health Guideline 0.02 ppb

The EWG Health Guideline of 0.02 ppb for chromium (hexavalent) was defined by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment as a public health goal, the level of a drinking water contaminant that does not pose a significant health risk. This health guideline protects against cancer.

ppb = parts per billion

States reporting chromium (hexavalent) in drinking water

	UTILITIES REPORTING ABOVE HEALTH GUIDELINES			UTILITIES WITH CONTAMINATION
State	Utilities	People Served		Utilities	People Served
California		1,348	35,806,069			1,386	37,522,992
Texas		674	18,224,684			700	20,375,471
New York		297	18,412,664			313	19,054,703
Florida		286	15,509,661			335	17,929,282
Illinois		471	9,715,721			461	9,878,993
Pennsylvania		281	9,331,367			298	9,660,188
Ohio		271	7,782,775			307	8,442,556
New Jersey		201	7,535,018			214	8,135,519
Georgia		170	7,817,076			171	7,909,380
North Carolina		361	6,546,480			404	7,673,973
Tennessee		199	5,469,135			202	6,257,835
Virginia		153	6,175,329			154	6,188,700
Arizona		94	5,590,794			99	5,760,676
Michigan		194	5,437,904			197	5,745,301
Colorado		156	4,362,932			189	5,530,339
Washington		203	5,467,238			204	5,491,602
Massachusetts		170	4,206,665			191	4,886,885
Alabama		226	4,691,164			233	4,861,735
Maryland		50	4,813,437			53	4,853,964
Missouri		156	3,750,297			161	3,972,570
Kentucky		212	3,731,641			225	3,961,014
South Carolina		185	3,397,750			184	3,514,306
Indiana		114	2,746,470			133	3,266,076
Louisiana		106	2,388,122			125	3,249,627
Oregon		82	2,745,196			88	2,846,019
Wisconsin		94	2,725,790			97	2,800,289
Utah		82	2,684,945			84	2,701,287
Oklahoma		146	1,877,284			180	2,677,935
Nevada		18	2,622,646			18	2,622,646
Connecticut		72	2,478,740			73	2,514,807
Minnesota		55	2,139,544			68	2,479,688
Kansas		146	2,253,237			142	2,260,051
Arkansas		143	1,826,489			152	1,912,239
Iowa		161	1,621,304			181	1,693,615
New Mexico		37	1,388,760			40	1,425,930
Hawaii		27	1,357,254			27	1,357,254
Nebraska		35	1,083,141			36	1,129,488
West Virginia		106	979,266			97	990,346
Mississippi		23	525,012			51	937,027
Idaho		26	867,816			28	912,315
Rhode Island		16	332,852			32	904,271
Delaware		14	688,569			15	696,546
District Of Columbia		3	664,572			3	664,572
New Hampshire		39	517,829			40	528,829
South Dakota		83	421,267			84	434,913
Alaska		18	431,974			18	431,974
Maine		17	417,578			19	420,453
North Dakota		34	427,863			20	407,547
Montana		36	356,015			42	396,575
Wyoming		48	262,664			46	271,060
Vermont		29	95,816			34	151,073

LESS

Filtering technologies that reduce chromium (hexavalent)

Utilities with the highest amounts of chromium (hexavalent), 2013-2019

ALL UTILITIES

LARGE UTILITIES

Utility	Location	Tests	Average level	People served
Norman*	Norman, OK	80 of 80	39.3 ppb	72,928
City of Los Banos	Los Banos, CA	291 of 291	31.8 ppb	37,168
Aptos Ridge Mutual Water Company	Watsonville, CA	10 of 10	30.7 ppb	50
Kingman Municipal Water	Kingman, AZ	24 of 24	30.0 ppb	45,000
City of Buckeye Sonora - Sundance	Buckeye, AZ	8 of 8	29.0 ppb	15,783
Santa Ynez Rancho Estates Mutual Water Company	Santa Ynez, CA	12 of 12	28.1 ppb	294
Epcor Water - Paradise Valley/Scottsdale	Youngtown, AZ	4 of 4	28.0 ppb	12,000
Paradise Rd. Ws #21	Salinas, CA	11 of 11	25.9 ppb	48
North Davis Meadows	Woodland, CA	2 of 2	25.0 ppb	314
City of Surprise - Mountain Vista*	Surprise, AZ	16 of 16	23.5 ppb	31,649
Harbor View Wa	Castroville, CA	11 of 11	23.5 ppb	75
Volta Community SD	Los Banos, CA	14 of 14	23.1 ppb	150
Joshua Basin Water District	Joshua Tree, CA	70 of 70	22.9 ppb	9,534
Paradise Lake Mutual Water Company	Salinas, CA	24 of 24	22.8 ppb	180
City of Kerman	Kerman, CA	81 of 81	22.0 ppb	14,068
West Park Properties	Crescent City, CA	5 of 5	22.0 ppb	112
Antelope Valley Mobile Estates	Rosamond, CA	15 of 15	20.8 ppb	60
Woodstock Property Owners Association	Santa Ynez, CA	36 of 39	20.4 ppb	350
Strawberry Rd. Ws #06	Royal Oaks, CA	10 of 10	20.1 ppb	150
First Mutual Water System	Rosamond, CA	14 of 14	19.7 ppb	35
Royal Oak Place Ws	Watsonville, CA	20 of 20	19.5 ppb	60
City of Patterson	Patterson, CA	119 of 119	19.3 ppb	20,560
Valencia Water Company Town Division	Buckeye, AZ	15 of 15	18.8 ppb	5,068
Rolling Acres Mutual Water Company	Davis, CA	7 of 7	18.7 ppb	40
Monterey Bay Academy	Watsonville, CA	17 of 17	18.6 ppb	400
SBNDO County Service Area 70J	Victorville, CA	139 of 139	18.5 ppb	10,111
Valenzuela Water System	Hollister, CA	16 of 17	18.3 ppb	55
Golden Meadows Community Services District	Red Bluff, CA	4 of 4	18.3 ppb	102
Coachella Water Authority	Coachella, CA	113 of 113	17.8 ppb	41,904
Amezcua - Garcia Water	Thermal, CA	9 of 9	17.7 ppb	316
Desmond Rd. Ws #03	Castroville, CA	10 of 10	17.6 ppb	55
Galindo Housing Facility	Bermuda Dunes, CA	10 of 10	17.3 ppb	50
City Of Dixon	Dixon, CA	75 of 75	17.2 ppb	8,593
Oak Trail Ranch Mutual Water	Buellton, CA	17 of 17	17.1 ppb	105
Yolo County Housing Authority	Woodland, CA	14 of 14	17.0 ppb	432
Moore	Moore, OK	47 of 47	16.9 ppb	55,083
Green Acres Wa	Castroville, CA	10 of 10	16.7 ppb	50
City of Davis*	Davis, CA	195 of 218	16.6 ppb	67,298
Fisherman's Bend Mobile Home Park	Newman, CA	13 of 13	16.5 ppb	80
City of Woodland	Woodland, CA	84 of 85	16.2 ppb	56,464
Dunnigan Water Works	Paso Robles, CA	30 of 59	16.2 ppb	400
Hidden Valley Wa	Royal Oaks, CA	6 of 6	16.2 ppb	51
Thermal Mutual Water Company	Thermal, CA	10 of 10	16.0 ppb	100
Coachella Valley Water District: I.d. No. 8	Palm Desert, CA	29 of 29	15.9 ppb	5,059
San Andreas Mutual Water Company	Aptos, CA	30 of 30	15.7 ppb	350
UC - Davis	Davis, CA	26 of 27	15.2 ppb	40,185
Mustang	Mustang, OK	12 of 12	15.1 ppb	15,435
Dolan Rd. Mutual Water Company	Moss Landing, CA	10 of 10	15.1 ppb	120
Goodyear Water Department*	Goodyear, AZ	20 of 20	14.9 ppb	50,001
Vwc Buckeye Division Sweetwater 2	Buckeye, AZ	20 of 20	14.9 ppb	90

* This water utility supplies finished drinking water to at least one other water utility. The purchasing utility is not required to test for or report Chromium (hexavalent), but it likely has the contaminant in its water supply.

Utility	Location	Tests	Average level	People served
Norman*	Norman, OK	80 of 80	39.3 ppb	72,928
City of Los Banos	Los Banos, CA	291 of 291	31.8 ppb	37,168
Kingman Municipal Water	Kingman, AZ	24 of 24	30.0 ppb	45,000
City of Buckeye Sonora - Sundance	Buckeye, AZ	8 of 8	29.0 ppb	15,783
Epcor Water - Paradise Valley/Scottsdale	Youngtown, AZ	4 of 4	28.0 ppb	12,000
City of Surprise - Mountain Vista*	Surprise, AZ	16 of 16	23.5 ppb	31,649
City of Kerman	Kerman, CA	81 of 81	22.0 ppb	14,068
City of Patterson	Patterson, CA	119 of 119	19.3 ppb	20,560
SBNDO County Service Area 70J	Victorville, CA	139 of 139	18.5 ppb	10,111
Coachella Water Authority	Coachella, CA	113 of 113	17.8 ppb	41,904
Moore	Moore, OK	47 of 47	16.9 ppb	55,083
City of Davis*	Davis, CA	195 of 218	16.6 ppb	67,298
City of Woodland	Woodland, CA	84 of 85	16.2 ppb	56,464
UC - Davis	Davis, CA	26 of 27	15.2 ppb	40,185
Mustang	Mustang, OK	12 of 12	15.1 ppb	15,435
Goodyear Water Department*	Goodyear, AZ	20 of 20	14.9 ppb	50,001
Rosamond CSD	Rosamond, CA	37 of 37	13.3 ppb	16,618
City of Vacaville	Elmira, CA	116 of 117	11.5 ppb	96,735
City of Watsonville	Watsonville, CA	108 of 116	11.2 ppb	65,739
Epcor Water - Sun City	Youngtown, AZ	36 of 36	10.7 ppb	38,016
USMC - 29 Palms	29 Palms, CA	133 of 152	10.5 ppb	28,760
Los Angeles County WW District 4 & 34-Lancaster	Alhambra, CA	205 of 206	10.4 ppb	180,131
Epcor Water - Agua Fria*	Youngtown, AZ	49 of 56	10.1 ppb	80,959
Rio Linda/Alverta Community Water District	Rio Linda, CA	143 of 143	10.0 ppb	13,386
City of Hollister	Hollister, CA	80 of 93	10.0 ppb	36,108
City of El Mirage	El Mirage, AZ	35 of 35	10.0 ppb	39,884
Los Angeles County WW District 40 Reg 38 Lake Los Angeles	Alhambra, CA	70 of 70	9.88 ppb	13,600
Liberty Water Lpsco*	Avondale, AZ	24 of 24	9.83 ppb	50,045
Pima Utilities	Sun Lakes, AZ	12 of 12	9.63 ppb	20,000
Quartz Hill Water District*	Quartz Hill, CA	82 of 82	9.30 ppb	22,000
City of Edmond - Arcadia Lake*	Arcadia, OK	88 of 88	9.06 ppb	79,408
East Pasadena Water Company	Pasadena, CA	6 of 6	8.95 ppb	10,978
Yukon	Yukon, OK	4 of 4	8.94 ppb	22,498
Mission Springs WD	Desert Hot Springs, CA	44 of 44	8.94 ppb	34,626
Arizona Water Company - Apache Junction	Phoenix, AZ	8 of 8	8.69 ppb	57,647
Twentynine Palms Water District	Twentynine Palms, CA	95 of 102	8.50 ppb	18,600
Fruitridge Vista Water Company	Sacramento, CA	113 of 119	8.45 ppb	15,000
Phelan Pinon Hills CSD	Phelan, CA	175 of 218	8.40 ppb	24,000
Sunnyslope County Water District	Hollister, CA	212 of 212	8.01 ppb	19,189
Sunny Slope Water Company	Pasadena, CA	45 of 45	7.83 ppb	32,427
City of Newman Water Department	Newman, CA	68 of 75	7.82 ppb	10,586
City of Kingsville*	Kingsville, TX	28 of 28	7.75 ppb	29,947
Cal/Am Water Company - San Marino	Rosemead, CA	141 of 142	7.65 ppb	40,804
Indio Water Authority	Indio, CA	995 of 1,043	7.39 ppb	77,780
City of Arcadia	Arcadia, CA	46 of 46	7.38 ppb	57,639
Coachella Valley Water District: Cove Community*	Palm Desert, CA	419 of 683	7.28 ppb	198,544
City of Banning*	Banning, CA	158 of 238	6.93 ppb	29,965
City of California City	California City, CA	40 of 40	6.89 ppb	14,212
Cottonwood Municipal Water Cw1	Cottonwood, AZ	16 of 16	6.88 ppb	10,895
Arizona Water Company - Pinal Valley*	Phoenix, AZ	38 of 38	6.82 ppb	88,019