Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Uranium

Sugar Mountain Utility

Uranium is a known human carcinogen. The federal legal limit for uranium is set at 30 micrograms per liter (corresponding to parts per billion), but utilities can also report uranium in picocuries per liter (pCi/L), which is a measure of radioactivity in water. EWG translated all uranium results to pCi/L using a conversion factor developed by the EPA. With this conversion approach, the limit of 30 ppb corresponds to 20 pCi/L. Drinking water with this much uranium would cause more than 4.6 cancer cases in a population of 100,000. California set a public health goal for uranium of 0.43 pCi/L. Read More.

Multiple forms of uranium can be detected in water, including uranium-234, uranium-235 and uranium-238. Uranium-234 is the most toxic form of uranium for human health.

 

20

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

0

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018ND10ND
2019N/A00N/A
2020ND10ND
2021N/A00N/A
2022ND160ND
2023ND20ND

pCi/L = picocuries per liter

State, National, and Health Guidelines for Drinking Water

EWG Health Guideline: 0.43 pCi/L

The EWG Health Guideline of 0.43 pCi/L for uranium was defined by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment as a public health goal, the level of a drinking water contaminant that does not pose a significant health risk. Three most common uranium isotopes are U-234, U-235 and U-238. All isotopes of uranium are radioactive, and the total radioactivity depends on the ratio of isotopes. This health guideline protects against cancer.

EPA Maximum Contaminant
Level (MCL): 20 pCi/L

pCi/L = picocuries per liter

All test results

Date Lab ID Result
2018-01-247164-012418-OOVRND
2020-07-147164-071420-OOXRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OOFRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OPQRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OOWRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OOTRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OOSRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OORRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OONRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OOIRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OOERND
2022-05-187164-051822-OODRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OOCRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OOBRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OOARND
2022-05-187164-051822-OLMRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OJKRND
2022-05-187164-051822-OGHRND
2023-08-30752-11127-1ND
2023-10-17752-12717-1ND