Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Radium, combined (-226 and -228)

Meridian Water Department

Radium is a radioactive element that causes bone cancer and other cancers. It can occur naturally in groundwater, and oil and gas extraction activities such as hydraulic fracturing can elevate concentrations. Read More.

Radium releases radioactive particles that harm health in many ways, causing tumors in bone, lungs and other organs; leukemia; and skin and blood damage. Water utilities typically report radium amounts in picocuries per liter (pCi/L), which is a measure of radioactivity in water. The two most common forms of radium are radium-226 and radium-228. They may be reported separately or together.

Federal law allows up to 5 picocuries per liter of combined radium-226 and radium-228 in tap water. Research by the U.S. Geological Survey shows that in some regions of the country, such as the mid-continental region and North Atlantic coastal region, more than 20 percent of sampled wells have radium in levels exceeding the federal drinking water limit. And the legal limit does not equate safety: The EPA estimates that one in every 10,000 people drinking water containing radium at this level would develop cancer over a lifetime.

California set a public health goal much lower than the federal limit – 0.05 picocuries per liter of radium-226 and 0.019 picocuries per liter of radium-228, concentrations that are lower than the detection limit for most water tests.

Click here to read more on radiological contaminants.

 

74

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

10

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018ND160ND
20190.13 pCi/L101ND - 1.32 pCi/L
2020ND300ND
20210.25 pCi/L31ND - 0.75 pCi/L
20220.40 pCi/L52ND - 1.21 pCi/L
20230.76 pCi/L106ND - 2.47 pCi/L

pCi/L = picocuries per liter

State, National, and Health Guidelines for Drinking Water

EWG Health Guideline: 0.05 pCi/L

EWG applied the health guideline of 0.05 pCi/L, defined by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment as a public health goal for radium-226, to radium-226 and radium-228 combined. This health guideline protects against cancer.

EPA Maximum Contaminant
Level (MCL): 5 pCi/L

The legal limit for combined radium-226 and radium-228, established in 1976, was based on costs for radium removal, as calculated at the time that the standard was set. This limit does not fully protect against the risk of cancer due to radium exposure.

pCi/L = picocuries per liter

All test results

Date Lab ID Result
2018-01-30R1804234ND
2018-05-07R201805100736ND
2018-05-07R201805100910ND
2018-05-07R201805100735ND
2018-05-07R201805100911ND
2018-05-07R201805100913ND
2018-05-07R2018005100739ND
2018-05-07R201805100912ND
2018-05-07R201805100738ND
2018-05-07R201805100737ND
2018-06-27R201806280283ND
2018-07-09R201807111096ND
2018-07-09R201807111095ND
2018-10-29R201810300481ND
2018-10-29EH01561-03ND
2018-11-05R201811060665ND
2019-01-28R41898011.32 pCi/L
2019-02-06R201902070845ND
2019-05-09201907160181ND
2019-06-0556341601ND
2019-06-06201907160184ND
2019-08-27201908280395ND
2019-09-18R828420ND
2019-09-18201909190329ND
2019-12-10R201912110681ND
2019-12-16201912170166ND
2020-03-10202003110253ND
2020-03-10202003110242ND
2020-03-17202003180487ND
2020-03-17202003180341ND
2020-03-17202003180445ND
2020-03-172102I03-007AND
2020-03-18202003190169ND
2020-04-07202004080558ND
2020-04-07202004080530ND
2020-04-14202004160513ND
2020-04-14202004150455ND
2020-06-04202006050260ND
2020-06-0454199001ND
2020-08-05202008060243ND
2020-08-06202008070429ND
2020-08-062102I24-010DND
2020-08-06202008070395ND
2020-08-06202008070424ND
2020-08-13202008140195ND
2020-08-132102I24-008CND
2020-08-242102I24-005BND
2020-08-24202008260647ND
2020-08-24202008260646ND
2020-08-26202008280065ND
2020-08-262102I24-001CND
2020-11-23202011240342ND
2020-11-23202011240344ND
2020-11-24202011250284ND
2020-11-24202011250275ND
2020-12-02202012030482ND
2021-01-20202101210294ND
2021-07-27R49646950.75 pCi/L
2021-11-1622J1168-01ND
2022-03-08202203100069ND
2022-05-10380-1913-2ND
2022-08-02380-14561-1ND
2022-10-12380-24415-20.79 pCi/L
2022-11-16380-28732-11.21 pCi/L
2023-01-11380-34262-21.16 pCi/L
2023-08-09380-58481-1ND
2023-08-1022L0396-01ND
2023-08-10380-58742-1ND
2023-09-05380-61825-30.85 pCi/L
2023-09-26FA00414-010.81 pCi/L
2023-09-26FE03468-01ND
2023-09-2622G1068-011.66 pCi/L
2023-09-26380-64427-10.69 pCi/L
2023-09-26380-64488-12.47 pCi/L