Hannah McKitrick became concerned when she noticed skin rashes and hair falling out during her freshman year at the University of Oklahoma. When she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease the next year, she started looking for answers.
She knew that mold reported in some dorm rooms had been causing health issues, but along with her doctor, determined this wasn’t causing her problems. But she also had noticed that even if she used a filter, something about the water coming out of the tap was still off. So McKitrick turned to a familiar movie and one of her favorites, “Erin Brockovich,” which tells the story of a California woman who fought against water contamination by a substance called hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6.
Now a senior studying political science and environmental sustainability, McKitrick started doing research of her own and found that Norman, Oklahoma, site of the OU campus, had high levels of chromium-6, known to cause skin irritation, as well as more serious kidney and liver damage and other issues.
According to a study in 2010 by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research organization, the chromium-6 levels found in Norman’s water were well below the EPA’s drinking water standard of 100 parts per billion (or 0.1 milligrams per liter). Norman’s levels were measured at just under 40 parts per billion.
However, this amount was the highest of any city tested in Oklahoma. And although chromium-6 can be generated by some industrial processes, the EWG story did not identify a potential source of the contamination.
According to EWG’s interactive map, areas near Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Lawton and several other towns also were found to have chromium-6 in their water.
McKitrick also learned that while EPA standards for chromium-6 contamination were based on potential adverse skin reactions over many years, the agency is currently reevaluating its drinking water standards for chromium-6 based on new science from the National Toxicology Program that found continued long-term exposure caused cancer in laboratory rodents.
Lawmakers to hold study on chromium-6 levels in Oklahoma
McKitrick presented her findings to Oklahoma Rep. Jacob Rosecrants, D-Norman, the legislator she had interned for in 2023 and 2024. Rosecrants agreed the issue was worth further investigation and got approval to have the topic discussed by the House Public Health Committee this fall.
The committee’s interim study will look into the reasons for the high levels of chromium-6 in certain areas of Oklahoma and how to reduce those levels. Rosecrants said the committee wants to educate members of the community and identify solutions, adding that water is going to be “the biggest issue of our lifetime.”
“If you talk to people out in the rural areas especially, some of the issues with factories kind of polluting the rivers, and the fact there’s not very many regulations and we’re passing laws to lessen the regulations, then I think it’s more important now than ever to talk about the fact that water is life,” he said.
McKitrick said she wants the study to demonstrate a need for more research, awareness and protection for residents. During her research, other students mentioned symptoms similar to those she had experienced. Though she said it would be hard to prove that high levels of chromium-6 were the cause of those symptoms, she said she thought more testing and committee discussion would raise public understanding on the issue.
“I think the main thing for people to understand is that it (chromium-6) affects your everyday life and your health, and that it could change your life like it changed mine,” she said.
According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Chromium-6 is usually produced by an industrial process, often involving metal welding, and can be used as pigments in dyes, paints and plastics. According to OSHA, “all hexavalent chromium compounds are considered carcinogenic to workers.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU student spearheads interim study on chromium-6 levels in water
