Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Radium, combined (-226 and -228)

Utilities Inc. - North Park Water Supply

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.

 

38

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

3

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018N/A00N/A
20190.09 pCi/L233ND - 0.67 pCi/L
2020N/A00N/A
2021N/A00N/A
2022ND150ND
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
2019-02-2635451101001ND
2019-02-262020630-RAW WATER: ANDREWS 1RND
2019-02-26202062-GLENN ST. WELLS (03G &ND
2019-02-26202054-WILLIS WTP (MINE BROOK)ND
2019-02-262020521-475 RUN HILL ROADND
2019-02-262020513-MIDDLEBORO AVE - EASTND
2019-02-26202047-TRINITY WELLFIELD WTP:0.67 pCi/L
2019-02-262020428-FINISHED: DILLA WTP (BND
2019-02-26202026-TOWNLINE HARDWAREND
2019-02-262020220-TREBLE COVE WTP - FININD
2019-02-26354511010050.67 pCi/L
2019-02-2635451101004ND
2019-02-2635451101002ND
2019-02-2635451101003ND
2019-02-2635451101002ND
2019-02-2635451101001ND
2019-02-2635451101003ND
2019-02-26354511010050.67 pCi/L
2019-02-2635451101004ND
2019-10-1535505694001ND
2019-10-152020520-WATER FILTRATION PLANTND
2019-10-152020519-119 COTTAGE STREET - 2ND
2019-10-1535505694001ND
2022-03-07202299-CLEVELAND WTP POST TREAND
2022-03-072022822-WELL # 2ND
2022-03-072022824-CHESTNUT WTF POST TREAND
2022-03-072022922-WELLS #1 & 1A OLD MARLND
2022-03-07202296-GP WELL # 5ND
2022-03-07202275-LUDLOW MONITORING STATIND
2022-03-072022725-MT PLEASANT TANKND
2022-03-072022721-WELL #6ND
2022-03-072022720-WELL #3 (REPLACEMENT WND
2022-03-072022711-POINT OF ENTRY POST TRND
2022-03-0735702540001ND
2022-03-0735702539001ND
2022-03-0735702538001ND
2022-03-0735702535001ND
2022-03-0735702531001ND