MAINE PUBLIC • September 19, 2025
Health officials in Maine say they are working with water utilities to stay below maximum contaminant levels for hexavalent chromium. That's after a report from the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, pointed to thousands of public utilities nationwide that had traces of the compound, along with arsenic, nitrate or a combination of the three. Exposure to these chemicals at high levels can cause harmful health effects in humans including cancer. But according to publicly available water quality reports, Maine water utilities that were flagged in the EWG report are in compliance with federal standards.