Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Uranium

Pecos County Fresh Water

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.

 

24

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

0

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

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

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
2018-01-25AE10443ND
2018-06-14AE29980ND
2018-08-28AE38736ND
2018-10-24AE44423ND
2019-02-21AE55266ND
2019-05-02AE64569ND
2019-08-14AE78827ND
2019-10-24AE87533ND
2020-02-06AE97266ND
2020-06-04AF14078ND
2020-08-20AF24499ND
2020-10-13AF30535ND
2021-03-18AF47414ND
2021-05-20AF54793ND
2021-08-19AF67086ND
2021-10-25AF74840ND
2022-02-08AF83806ND
2022-04-26AF94398ND
2022-08-22AG10448ND
2022-11-29AG19976ND
2023-02-07AG27697ND
2023-06-12AG44155ND
2023-08-07AG51484ND
2023-11-06AG62328ND