Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Radium, combined (-226 and -228)

Water Works District #1 of Vermilion

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.

 

66

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

48

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.62 pCi/L1710ND - 2.13 pCi/L
20191.38 pCi/L440.72 pCi/L - 1.84 pCi/L
20200.92 pCi/L2418ND - 2.87 pCi/L
2021N/A00N/A
20220.52 pCi/L32ND - 0.79 pCi/L
20230.90 pCi/L1814ND - 1.97 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
2018-04-12353863990060.89 pCi/L
2018-04-122020211-WELLFIELD #21.18 pCi/L
2018-04-122020219-SUNBELT RENTALS - 2540.78 pCi/L
2018-04-12202034-RT. 127 - WELL #60.89 pCi/L
2018-04-122020519-BRATTLE ST VAULT - 3RD2.13 pCi/L
2018-04-122020519-MULTIPLE WELLS#1,#2,#5ND
2018-04-122020526-WELL #1ND
2018-04-122020528-REPLACEMENT WELL #3ND
2018-04-122020630-WELL #2ND
2018-04-1235386400004ND
2018-04-12353863990060.89 pCi/L
2018-04-1235386400004ND
2018-06-201.27 pCi/L
2018-06-202020415-RAW: WELL #30.76 pCi/L
2018-06-20202047-DISTRIBUTING RESERVOIR:0.61 pCi/L
2018-06-202020521-ST. MARY'S STATIONND
2018-06-20202061-RAW WATER: WORCESTER RD1.17 pCi/L
2019-06-10354749760011.84 pCi/L
2019-06-10354749760011.84 pCi/L
2019-06-102020526-RAW WATER: WELL #20.72 pCi/L
2019-06-10202054-BOULDERWOOD TANK1.12 pCi/L
2020-06-10355562150030.97 pCi/L
2020-06-10202161-PERRY HILL STATION (6G,1.22 pCi/L
2020-06-102021622-45 ORCHARD LN - 2ND WE1.05 pCi/L
2020-06-10355562150011.78 pCi/L
2020-06-10355562150021.81 pCi/L
2020-06-10355562150042.87 pCi/L
2020-06-102021630-MORSES POND WELL0.60 pCi/L
2020-06-102021416-AVON RES. FINISHED1.65 pCi/L
2020-06-102021421-POINT OF ENTRY POST TRND
2020-06-102021422-ENTRY POINT TAP (AFTER1.21 pCi/L
2020-06-102021427-RAW WATER: POPULATIC W0.73 pCi/L
2020-06-102021519-WELL #10.97 pCi/L
2020-07-2335565628001ND
2020-07-23355656290011.84 pCi/L
2020-07-23202142-TREATED: WELL #3 - CHUR0.97 pCi/L
2020-07-232021426-MID-POINT: CHESTNUT WTND
2020-07-232021519-WELL #20.87 pCi/L
2020-07-232021526-MAIN WTPND
2020-10-05202145-SPEC POND WTP (BLEND)ND
2020-10-052021420-MAPLE SPRINGS PLANT -0.98 pCi/L
2020-10-05355830340010.80 pCi/L
2020-10-05355830340020.98 pCi/L
2020-10-052021520-CRANBERRY TRAIN A 50%ND
2020-10-052021617-FINISHED: SNAKE POND W0.80 pCi/L
2022-07-25357354870010.79 pCi/L
2022-07-252022712-WELL #4 GREAT ROAD WTPND
2022-07-252022720-MID-POINT: POST AIX LA0.79 pCi/L
2023-03-27357887770021.44 pCi/L
2023-03-272023515-143 OLD LYMAN ROADND
2023-03-27202352-KIMBALRE & CO.0.77 pCi/L
2023-03-27202352-RAW WATER: WELL #2 JERSND
2023-03-272023621-MT.AUBURN HOSPITAL1.08 pCi/L
2023-03-272023628-PUMPHOUSE: AFTER TREAT1.25 pCi/L
2023-03-27202368-WELLS #1 & #20.67 pCi/L
2023-03-272023510-RAW: WELL 2RND
2023-03-272023413-EAST ST. WTP-EFFLUENT0.71 pCi/L
2023-03-27357887790021.25 pCi/L
2023-03-27357887790011.79 pCi/L
2023-03-2735788777001ND
2023-07-10358123530011.97 pCi/L
2023-07-10358123530021.69 pCi/L
2023-07-102023417-WELL # 11.10 pCi/L
2023-07-10202352-EDWARD J DELANEY WTP0.73 pCi/L
2023-07-10202353-MA RESERVATION BUILDING0.95 pCi/L
2023-07-10202367-LELAND FARMS WELL, FINI0.87 pCi/L