Tap Water & Chemicals: Debating the Concerns

A new report finds 31 out of 35 American cities have dangerous chemicals in their tap water.

**Link here for more detail on the map above; see the breakdown of water quality for the cities in question; and click here for information on how to keep your water safe.

_

Erin Brockovich made hexavalent chromium – “chromium 6” – famous, with her California campaign for safe water.  In the movie version, it was Julia Roberts as Brockovich, standing up against carcinogens in tap water.
Last month, a group of environmental activists came out with a new list of American cities with chromium 6 in the tap water — in  31 out of the 35 cities they tested. That is an arresting headline. We’re following up.
If you’re in Norman, Oklahoma, pay attention. And not just there.
We examine tap water safety, and the chemicals in our daily lives.
-Tom Ashbrook
Guests:

Philip Shabecoff, author and journalist. He was the chief environmental correspondent at The New York Times for over 14 years after which he founded Greenwire, an online daily digest of environmental news.  He is also the author of multiple books on the environment, his most recent being "Poisoned for Profit: How Toxins Are Making Our Children Chronically Ill."

Alice Shabecoff, journalist focusing on consumer protection and health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, and International Herald Tribune. She was the executive director of the National Consumers League, the nation's oldest consumer organization and was also the founder and director of the national nonprofit Community Information Exchange.

Jane Houlihan, senior vice president for research at Environmental Working Group, which just published a new study presenting findings that Chromium-6 — the so-called “Erin Brockovich chemical" — is widespread in the tap water of many U.S. cities. She has worked for more than a decade leading research into the quality of our drinking water and directs the group's research operations and specializes in toxins and our health. She also heads up the group's national tap water database.

Ken Komiske, director of utilities for Norman, Oklahoma.

Max Costa, professor and chairman of the Department of Environmental Medicine at New York University’s School of Medicine. Also associate director of NYU’s Cancer Institute.