Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Radium, combined (-226 and -228)

City of Abbeville 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.

 

90

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

39

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.23 pCi/L62ND - 0.69 pCi/L
20190.24 pCi/L166ND - 0.82 pCi/L
20200.61 pCi/L2412ND - 2.24 pCi/L
20210.37 pCi/L126ND - 1.04 pCi/L
20220.30 pCi/L124ND - 1.03 pCi/L
20230.33 pCi/L209ND - 1.09 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
2018-06-20353997630020.69 pCi/L
2018-06-20353997630020.69 pCi/L
2018-09-2535420579001ND
2018-09-2535420579001ND
2018-11-1335431263004ND
2018-11-1335431263004ND
2019-02-192310-01007-001ND
2019-02-192311-00318-004ND
2019-02-1935449687001ND
2019-02-1935449687001ND
2019-05-14354694320020.82 pCi/L
2019-05-14354694320020.82 pCi/L
2019-05-142202-02445-0030.82 pCi/L
2019-05-142111-02827-003ND
2019-08-08354900640010.47 pCi/L
2019-08-082208-02585-0020.47 pCi/L
2019-08-082208-02585-001ND
2019-08-08354900640010.47 pCi/L
2019-11-1935514160001ND
2019-11-1935514160001ND
2019-11-192003-00327-004ND
2019-11-192002-01583-002ND
2020-02-21202163-SPRING STREET WELLND
2020-02-212021520-WESCO-PLANK STREET0.84 pCi/L
2020-02-21355330110010.84 pCi/L
2020-04-03202166-ROCK WELL #1ND
2020-04-032021511-GP WELL # 4ND
2020-04-0335541851001ND
2020-05-182021429-NO. PLYMOUTH GP WELL0.94 pCi/L
2020-05-18355512570010.94 pCi/L
2020-05-18355512630011.66 pCi/L
2020-05-18355512630021.66 pCi/L
2020-05-18355512630032.24 pCi/L
2020-05-182021416-AVON RES. FINISHEDND
2020-05-182021419-FINISHED: AFTER TANK (1.44 pCi/L
2020-05-18202146-WELL #1ND
2020-05-182021520-EVERETT - 243 FERRY ST0.75 pCi/L
2020-05-182021520-RESERVOIRS POINT OF EN1.66 pCi/L
2020-05-18202156-RAW WATER: WELL #40.22 pCi/L
2020-05-18202162-FURNACE BROOK WELL # 41.49 pCi/L
2020-09-082021512-MAHER FILTRATION PLANTND
2020-09-082021616-FINISHED: WELL #3 PAXTND
2020-09-0835576526001ND
2020-11-302021519-WELL #1ND
2020-11-30202162-LYNFIELD ST. FSND
2020-11-3035595708008ND
2021-03-1635621232001ND
2021-03-1620211117-WELL #3 & WELL #4ND
2021-03-1620211130-FINISHED: ENTRY POINTND
2021-05-272021127-NEW BOSTON TREATMENT FND
2021-05-272021119-GAC CONTACTOR0.90 pCi/L
2021-05-27356379920010.90 pCi/L
2021-08-10356570080030.29 pCi/L
2021-08-1020211118-WELLS #1 & #2ND
2021-08-102021107-WELLS #1,#2 (01G,02G)0.29 pCi/L
2021-11-04356768290011.04 pCi/L
2021-11-0420211122-MID-POINT: CHESTNUT WND
2021-11-0420211018-MAIN ST. GP WELL #11.04 pCi/L
2022-01-272022712-GP WELL #60.78 pCi/L
2022-01-272022719-MAHER FILTRATION PLANTND
2022-01-27356943280010.78 pCi/L
2022-05-05357172680031.03 pCi/L
2022-05-052022721-STATION 3: BIGELOW RD.1.03 pCi/L
2022-05-052022719-POINT OF ENTRY POST TRND
2022-08-1735744141002ND
2022-08-172022824-GP WELL # 6ND
2022-08-172022727-WELL #1 NEARND
2022-12-0235765450001ND
2022-12-022022822-WELL # 2ND
2022-12-022022819-WELLESLEY AVE. WTPND
2023-02-0735779757001ND
2023-02-072023410-PLANT TAP AFTER TREATMND
2023-02-072023523-FINISHED: CHESTNUT ST.ND
2023-05-08357987040040.78 pCi/L
2023-05-08202365-GP WELL #110.80 pCi/L
2023-05-082023623-86 TISDALE DRIVE0.68 pCi/L
2023-05-082023614-TREATED: JACQUES WTF (ND
2023-05-08202352-TREATED: WELL #3 - CHURND
2023-05-082023510-FINISHED: WELL #2 PAXT0.14 pCi/L
2023-05-082023425-WELL 4 TREATMENT VESSE0.82 pCi/L
2023-05-082023412-H&T VESSEL 1 SAMPLE TA0.78 pCi/L
2023-05-08357987040010.68 pCi/L
2023-05-08357987040021.09 pCi/L
2023-05-08357987040030.82 pCi/L
2023-08-1135821288001ND
2023-08-112023412-WELL #2 SOURCE TAPND
2023-08-11202351-RAW WATER: CLIFF RD. WEND
2023-10-2035840323001ND
2023-10-202023428-GWTP - FINISHED (1G,2GND
2023-10-20202344-POINT OF ENTRY POST TREND