The intent of the standards is to protect the public health by minimizing the amount of chromium emitted from new and existing chromium electroplating and anodizing operations. The EPA is also proposing Methods 306, 306A, and 306B with the standards. These methods would be used to demonstrate compliance with the standards. This study focused on chromium emissions from chromium electroplating and anodizing tanks. During this study, it was determined that chromium electroplating and anodizing tanks were significant emitters of chromic acid, the principal ingredient in chromium electroplating and anodizing baths.
Chromic acid is a hexavalent chromium compound.
The EPA has determined that there is strong evidence to conclude that hexavalent chromium compounds cause lung cancer in humans.