http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2006-02-26T160415Z_01_N24403898_RTRIDST_0_ENVIRONMENT-CHROMIUM.XMLWASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Workplace watchdogs and industry advocates agree: too much hexavalent chromium -- the same chemical at the heart of the movie "Erin Brockovich" -- puts people at risk for lung cancer. But how much is too much?
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is set to rule on that on Tuesday. But in the run-up to the decision, the journal Environmental Health reported that industry-commissioned scientists withheld data suggesting even small amounts of the known carcinogen, which is used in the steel, aerospace, electroplating and industries, can be deadly.
"We think we have an example in which all of the standard elements of scientific distortion are present: hiding behind the lawyers, statistical manipulation, failure to publish ... all that kind of stuff which comes right out of the tobacco industry playbook," said Dr. Peter Lurie, one of the report's authors.
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The film "Erin Brockovich" focused on the dangers of contact with hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium VI, through polluted water. The current matter deals with airborne chromium VI that some 380,000 U.S. workers might inhale on the job.
At present, there is no OSHA standard for how much chromium is acceptable in American factories; the only standard that exists dates from 1943, when the maximum on-the-job dose was set to prevent "nasal perforation" and skin irritations.
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