Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Radium, combined (-226 and -228)

West Baton Rouge Water Works District 2

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.

 

32

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

4

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018N/A00N/A
2019ND80ND
20200.05 pCi/L62ND - 0.16 pCi/L
20210.24 pCi/L92ND - 1.08 pCi/L
2022ND60ND
2023ND30ND

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
2019-06-1835476846005ND
2019-06-1835476846005ND
2019-06-182020318-MERRIMACK RIVER - RAWND
2019-06-182020211-WELL #6ND
2019-10-0835504152001ND
2019-10-0835504152001ND
2019-10-082020623-OAK ST WTP FINISHEDND
2019-10-08202023-THE HIGHLANDS-335 NICHOND
2020-01-152021521-180 BRIDGE ST - DUNKINND
2020-01-152021616-SHABOKIN TRAIN A 50% GND
2020-01-1535524566004ND
2020-11-10355913330010.16 pCi/L
2020-11-102021413-WELL #2ND
2020-11-102021616-FINISHED: WELL #3 PAXT0.16 pCi/L
2021-02-0435609851001ND
2021-02-0420211117-WELL #3 & WELL #4ND
2021-02-042021119-PLAIN ST FILTRATION PLND
2021-05-1835634927001ND
2021-05-1820211018-MAIN ST. GP WELL #1ND
2021-05-1820211020-COMBINED RAW WATERND
2021-09-20356650750021.08 pCi/L
2021-09-2020211012-CHARLES RIVER WTP - F1.08 pCi/L
2021-09-2020211019-POINT OF ENTRY POST TND
2022-06-2135727316001ND
2022-06-21202281-CORPORATE EXPRESSND
2022-06-212022711-WORCESTER RD. WTP (FINND
2022-10-1735754574001ND
2022-10-172022726-RAW WATER: TWF #6ND
2022-10-172022921-MORSES POND WELLND
2023-01-102023614-WELL 18 AND 19ND
2023-01-10202358-RAW WATER: WELL #6 WESTND
2023-01-1035772224001ND