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EWG's Tap Water Database — 2021 UPDATE

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Uranium

City of Alexandria Water System

Uranium is a known human carcinogen. The federal legal limit for uranium is set at 30 micrograms per liter (corresponding to parts per billion), but utilities can also report uranium in picocuries per liter (pCi/L), which is a measure of radioactivity in water. EWG translated all uranium results to pCi/L using a conversion factor developed by the EPA. With this conversion approach, the limit of 30 ppb corresponds to 20 pCi/L. Drinking water with this much uranium would cause more than 4.6 cancer cases in a population of 100,000. California set a public health goal for uranium of 0.43 pCi/L. Read More.

Multiple forms of uranium can be detected in water, including uranium-234, uranium-235 and uranium-238. Uranium-234 is the most toxic form of uranium for human health.

MORE ABOUT THIS CONTAMINANT

 

102

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

2

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2014N/A00N/A
2015N/A00N/A
20160.03 pCi/L724ND - 0.74 pCi/L
2017ND60ND
2018N/A00N/A
2019ND240ND

pCi/L = picocuries per liter

State and national drinking water standards and health guidelines

EWG Health Guideline 0.43 pCi/L

The EWG Health Guideline of 0.43 pCi/L for uranium was defined by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment as a public health goal, the level of a drinking water contaminant that does not pose a significant health risk. Three most common uranium isotopes are U-234, U-235 and U-238. All isotopes of uranium are radioactive, and the total radioactivity depends on the ratio of isotopes. This health guideline protects against cancer.

EPA Maximum Contaminant
Level (MCL) 20 pCi/L

pCi/L = picocuries per liter

All test results

Date Lab ID Result
2016-05-1035244408001ND
2016-05-1035244408002ND
2016-05-10352444080030.41 pCi/L
2016-05-1035244408004ND
2016-05-1035244408005ND
2016-05-1035244408001ND
2016-05-1035244408002ND
2016-05-10352444080030.41 pCi/L
2016-05-1035244408004ND
2016-05-1035244408005ND
2016-05-1835245776001ND
2016-05-1835245776002ND
2016-05-1835245776003ND
2016-05-1835245776004ND
2016-05-1835245776005ND
2016-05-1835245776001ND
2016-05-1835245776002ND
2016-05-1835245776003ND
2016-05-1835245776004ND
2016-05-1835245776005ND
2016-05-2535246558001ND
2016-05-2535246558002ND
2016-05-2535246558003ND
2016-05-2535246558004ND
2016-05-2535246558005ND
2016-05-2535246558001ND
2016-05-2535246558002ND
2016-05-2535246558003ND
2016-05-2535246558004ND
2016-05-2535246558005ND
2016-06-0635248060001ND
2016-06-0635248060002ND
2016-06-0635248060003ND
2016-06-0635248060004ND
2016-06-0635248060005ND
2016-06-0635248060001ND
2016-06-0635248060002ND
2016-06-0635248060003ND
2016-06-0635248060004ND
2016-06-0635248060005ND
2016-06-15352500150010.74 pCi/L
2016-06-1535250015002ND
2016-06-1535250015003ND
2016-06-1535250015004ND
2016-06-1535250015005ND
2016-06-15352500150010.74 pCi/L
2016-06-1535250015002ND
2016-06-1535250015003ND
2016-06-1535250015004ND
2016-06-1535250015005ND
2016-07-1935255757001ND
2016-07-1935255757002ND
2016-07-1935255757001ND
2016-07-1935255757002ND
2016-08-0935259194001ND
2016-08-0935259194002ND
2016-08-0935259194003ND
2016-08-0935259194004ND
2016-08-0935259194005ND
2016-08-0935259194001ND
2016-08-0935259194002ND
2016-08-0935259194003ND
2016-08-0935259194004ND
2016-08-0935259194005ND
2016-10-0535271142005ND
2016-10-0535271142005ND
2016-11-0935276653001ND
2016-11-0935276653002ND
2016-11-0935276653001ND
2016-11-0935276653002ND
2016-12-1435283929004ND
2016-12-1435283929004ND
2017-03-0835299871001ND
2017-03-0835299871002ND
2017-03-0835299871001ND
2017-03-0835299871002ND
2017-08-0735329426006ND
2017-08-0735329426006ND
2019-06-06B1902352-001ND
2019-06-06B1902352-003ND
2019-06-06B1902352-001ND
2019-06-06B1902352-003ND
2019-07-25B1903186-001ND
2019-07-25B1903188-001ND
2019-07-25B1903186-001ND
2019-07-25B1903188-001ND
2019-09-11B1904050-001ND
2019-09-11B1904050-002ND
2019-09-11B1904050-003ND
2019-09-11B1904050-001ND
2019-09-11B1904050-002ND
2019-09-11B1904050-003ND
2019-12-04B1905453-001ND
2019-12-04B1905453-002ND
2019-12-04B1905453-003ND
2019-12-04B1905453-004ND
2019-12-04B1905453-005ND
2019-12-04B1905453-001ND
2019-12-04B1905453-002ND
2019-12-04B1905453-003ND
2019-12-04B1905453-004ND
2019-12-04B1905453-005ND