Hot apple cider  and hot cocoa might need to be made with heavily filtered water this holiday season for select major cities throughout the United States as the cancer causing carcinogen, hexavalent chromium, was found in to be prevalent in water systems across the country.

Water supplies from 35 major US cities were tested by The Environmental Working Group and 31 were found to have toxic levels of the carcinogen. Hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium-6, is primarily used in industrial construction and in metal plating. The use of hexavalent chromium is regulated in Europe  due it's harmful affects however, California is the only state to date within the United States that regulates the use hexavalent chromium. The toxic levels found within tap water is mainly due to old pipes that were constructed before the harmful effects of hexavalent chromium were brought to the attention of general public.

Water systems that contain this harmful chemical are being advised by The Environmental Working Group to not be utilized at this time and for residents within these cities to purchase and implement a water filtration system within their home, to purchase bottled water, to boil and re-boil their water and/or to refrain completely from ingesting or bathing in any tap water.

Water systems contaminated by hexavalent chromium were first "glamourized" by the Hollywood movie, "Erin Brockovich," as this is the primary chemical that the real life environmental activist found to be the carcinogen causing harm to the residents of a small town in California.

ISO Pure Water suggests taking time to research if your city has been affected by this report and to please take necessary precautions (such as implementing a water filtration system) when drinking or bathing in any tap water if residing in an affected city.