California became the first state in the U. S. to take steps to establish maximum drinking water levels for the cancer-causing chemical - 'Chromium 6'.

California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment proposed a level of 0.06 parts per billion for the heavy metal after a decade of study on the health effects caused by excessive amount of chromium 6.

Researchers said that regular drinking water below these levels would qualify as "negligible risk".

This is not the final proposal, it still needs to be reviewed further but it does initiate steps to order the cleaning up of contaminated water by the department of public health.

Sam Delson, deputy director for external and legislative affairs said, "The health threats of inhaling chromium 6 are well known. Research has found lung and gastrointestinal cancers in people who breathed it on the job. But whether the pollutant is carcinogenic in drinking water has been the subject of controversy, since some of it is converted to chromium 3 in the digestive system".

Dr Pankaj Parekh, director of water quality for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, assured that they will be able to meet the standards set by the government.

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has already started the process of pinpointing the companies responsible for the chromium contamination.