Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Radium, combined (-226 and -228)

Port Sulphur Water District

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.

 

41

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

6

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018ND30ND
20190.52 pCi/L54ND - 0.71 pCi/L
2020ND60ND
20210.23 pCi/L122ND - 1.39 pCi/L
2022ND30ND
2023ND120ND

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
2018-01-3035371297001ND
2018-01-3035371297001ND
2018-01-30AF43955ND
2019-02-05354467330010.71 pCi/L
2019-02-05354467330010.71 pCi/L
2019-02-056389-574-1-5ND
2019-05-30354720240010.59 pCi/L
2019-05-30354720240010.59 pCi/L
2020-03-10202145-POINT OF ENTRY POST TREND
2020-03-102021428-RAW WATER: SHABOKIN REND
2020-03-1035536681001ND
2020-03-182021519-WELL #2ND
2020-03-182021420-POINT OF ENTRYND
2020-03-1835538502001ND
2021-03-0135615734001ND
2021-03-012021127-WELL #4 AND #5ND
2021-03-012021127-WELL #10 AND WELL #11ND
2021-03-012021112-MORSES POND WELLND
2021-03-0120211015-TREATED: BEMIS ROAD WND
2021-03-0135615732001ND
2021-09-13356631870011.39 pCi/L
2021-09-1320211119-UPPER BLACKSTONE - RTND
2021-09-132021105-WELL #71.39 pCi/L
2021-10-262021128-SCHOOL ST. WELLND
2021-10-2635673864001ND
2021-10-2620211013-WELL #1 AND #2ND
2022-01-1335690764001ND
2022-01-132022815-HORN POND WTP - RAW WAND
2022-01-132022825-FINISHED: WELL #5 RAWSND
2023-02-0135777177001ND
2023-02-012023418-ENTRY POINT TAP (AFTERND
2023-02-01202359-WELL #3 PUMPHOUSE (AFTEND
2023-10-0335831862001ND
2023-10-032023418-RAW WATER: STATION #1,ND
2023-10-032023421-WELL 2 SOURCE WATER TAND
2023-10-0535832717001ND
2023-10-05202361-WTP - FINISHED (01S,02SND
2023-10-05202365-GP WELL # 5ND
2023-10-1135834157001ND
2023-10-11202346-RAW: WELL 3ND
2023-10-112023616-RAW: REPLACEMENT WELLND