Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Radium, combined (-226 and -228)

City of Pineville Water System

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.

 

61

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

22

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.56 pCi/L128ND - 1.29 pCi/L
20190.79 pCi/L2214ND - 2.20 pCi/L
2020N/A00N/A
2021N/A00N/A
2022ND270ND
2023N/A00N/A

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
2018-04-04ND
2018-04-042004555-01ND
2018-05-172102858-01ND
2018-05-17353932490060.49 pCi/L
2018-05-172208915-010.49 pCi/L
2018-05-172208915-02ND
2018-05-172211-00858-0010.63 pCi/L
2018-05-17353932490060.49 pCi/L
2018-08-17354137180011.29 pCi/L
2018-08-17354137180011.29 pCi/L
2018-11-132004576-011.04 pCi/L
2018-11-131.04 pCi/L
2019-02-15354493710011.56 pCi/L
2019-02-15354493710011.56 pCi/L
2019-07-182100894-010.88 pCi/L
2019-07-18354833660051.34 pCi/L
2019-07-18354833660042.20 pCi/L
2019-07-1835483366003ND
2019-07-18354833660020.88 pCi/L
2019-07-18354833660010.52 pCi/L
2019-07-18354833660051.34 pCi/L
2019-07-18354833660042.20 pCi/L
2019-07-1835483366003ND
2019-07-18354833660020.88 pCi/L
2019-07-18354833660010.52 pCi/L
2019-07-182007932-022.20 pCi/L
2019-07-2535485313002ND
2019-07-25354853130010.67 pCi/L
2019-07-2535485313004ND
2019-07-2535485313003ND
2019-07-2535485313002ND
2019-07-25354853130010.67 pCi/L
2019-07-2535485313004ND
2019-07-2535485313003ND
2022-05-23202283-TREATED: WACHUSETT ST.ND
2022-05-23202283-KING PHILIP TREATMENT PND
2022-05-23202288-RAW WATER #6.3 HOME FARND
2022-05-23202283-901 HATHAWAY RDND
2022-05-23202276-CAMBRIDGE WTP - FINISHND
2022-05-23202289-373 MAIN STREET - 2ND WND
2022-05-23202298-WELL #1ND
2022-05-23202299-CLEVELAND WTP POST TREAND
2022-05-2335720509003ND
2022-05-232022726-RAW WATER: TWF #6ND
2022-05-2335720509005ND
2022-05-2335720509004ND
2022-05-2335720509002ND
2022-05-2335720509001ND
2022-05-232022712-WELL #4 MADISON ALWARDND
2022-06-13202289-672 HARVARD ST - RESIDEND
2022-06-13202288-NORUMBEGA RESERVOIR - FND
2022-06-132022825-POND ST TREATMENT PLANND
2022-06-132022729-RAW WATER BLEND: CHESTND
2022-06-132022725-WELLS #1, #4 AND #5ND
2022-06-132022721-WADING RIVER FINISHEDND
2022-06-132022721-RAW WATER: JACQUES WELND
2022-06-132022721-POINT OF ENTRY POST TRND
2022-06-1335725405001ND
2022-06-1335725405002ND
2022-06-1335725405003ND
2022-06-1335725405004ND