Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Radium, combined (-226 and -228)

Jim Wells County Fresh Water Supply District 1

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.

 

31

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

0

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018ND60ND
2019ND40ND
2020ND40ND
2021ND50ND
2022ND80ND
2023ND40ND

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
2018-02-05AE12123ND
2018-04-23AE23422ND
2018-08-06AE35772ND
2018-10-15AF62556ND
2018-10-15AF62613ND
2018-10-15AE43377ND
2019-02-13AE54280ND
2019-04-29AE63881ND
2019-08-19AE79201ND
2019-11-04AE88278ND
2020-01-21AG18349ND
2020-04-27AF08652ND
2020-07-06AF18137ND
2020-12-07AF37029ND
2021-02-08AF42806ND
2021-05-26AF55735ND
2021-08-26AF68064ND
2021-10-12E210403304ND
2021-10-12AF73063ND
2022-01-19E210903593ND
2022-01-19E210903595ND
2022-01-19AF80679ND
2022-06-03AF99555ND
2022-08-09AG08324ND
2022-08-094483135ND
2022-11-14AG18581ND
2022-11-142080161-01ND
2023-01-30AG26706ND
2023-01-3061826801ND
2023-06-21AG45208ND
2023-07-10AG47492ND