The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has evaluated the sources of air toxins in Hudson County and estimated that the levels throughout this county are generally higher than the levels the EPA recommends for residential areas. There are three reasons for this:
More information about the EPA's estimated levels of air pollution in Hudson County can be found at http://www.state.nj.us/dep/airtoxics/hudson.htm and http://www.epa.gov.
One of the chemicals that contributes to Hudson County's air pollution levels is chromium. The most common forms of chromium in the environment are chromium(+3) and chromium(+6). Chromium(+3) is a naturally occurring element found in rocks, animals, plants, soil and dust.
Chromium(+6), which can be toxic under long-term exposure, is predominantly produced by industrial processes and can be found in a by-product of chrome-ore processing called COPR (pronounced “ko-per”).