Michelle Muscat

E rin Brockovich is a very poignant movie which highlights medical issues in relation to environmental toxicology, specifically hexavalent chromium. Hexavalent chromium is a genotoxic carcinogen that was found to be contaminating drinking water in Hinkley, California.

The dramatized events narrated in this award winning movie are based on a true story. The character of Erin Brockovich is portrayed by the famous actress Julia Roberts. She is the unemployed mother of three children, desperately looking for a job. Eventually, she manages to take up an assistant position at a legal office. The index case is first presented to the viewer when we see her go through a set of laboratory results and later conduct a home visit to better understand the situation. In the movie, Donna Jensen (Marg Helgenberger) tells her that their medical bills are being taken care of by the Pacific Gas and Electric company who had also offered to buy her house. Soon after, we see her speak to a toxicologist who explains to her that there is a difference between, for example, trivalent chromium (Cr(III)) and hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), the latter being highly toxic and carcinogenic. An example of hexavalent chromium’s practical use is for its anticorrosive properties. The Hinkley chromium level in water exceeded the maximum contaminant level stipulated by regulation. The fictitious Jensen family are said in the film to have had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, uterine cancer, chronic nosebleeds etc. Erin Brockovich later meets another family, who used to live across the road to the index family, who had five miscarriages. As the story progresses she meets many more families in the area who were also affected.

Hexavalent chromium exposure, such as in this case, also forms part of the wider remit of ecotoxicology and occupational medicine, and remediation strategies have been devised.1,2 The effects of exposure to hexavalent chromium can be diverse, and have also been studied in cell lines and animal models.3-8