Radium Concentration (picocuries per liter; pCi/L) in Community Water Systems (CWS): Annual Mean and Maximum Radium Concentration (picoCuries per liter; pCi/L) and Year, 2002 to 2022
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Why Is This Important?
Radium (Ra) is a naturally occurring silvery-white radioactive metal or radionuclide formed by the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium. Radium-226 (Ra-226) and radium-228 (Ra-228) are the most common isotopes or forms of radium; Ra-226 originates from the decay of uranium-238 (a long-lived uranium isotope, which has a half-life of almost 5 billion years), which is the most common isotope of natural uranium and Ra-228 originates from thorium-232, which is the most common isotope of natural thorium. Therefore, the combined radium-226 and -228 are products of natural uranium and thorium minerals or deposits. In the natural environment, all rocks, soil, surface and ground water, air, plants, and animals contain very low amounts of radium. Therefore, everyone has some minor exposure to radium. However, when rocks contain high levels of uranium or thorium, radium is also found at high levels. Some geographic regions of the United States, particularly the areas of southwestern states such as New Mexico, have concentrated natural deposits of uranium. Because radium and its compounds are soluble in water, groundwater in areas where concentrations of radium are high in surrounding rocks and soils typically also has relatively high content of radium. Higher levels of radium tend to be found in groundwater than in surface water of drinking water. Therefore, some private well drinking water sources in New Mexico may contain higher than average radium-226 concentrations; in such areas private well water can become source of exposure to radium. Exposure to radium can cause adverse health effects such as anemia, cataracts, fractured teeth, and cancer. There is sufficient evidence in humans that ingestion of high levels of radium causes bone cancer (bone sarcomas) and cancer of the paranasal sinuses. Exposure to high levels of radium can also result in an increased risk of developing liver and breast cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that radium is a known human carcinogen. The greatest health concern for radium exposure is exposure to its radioactive decay product radon, which tends to accumulate in indoor air. Bathing and showering with water that contains dissolved radon gas may be a health concern (more information on indoor radon can be found at https://nmtracking.doh.nm.gov/environment/air/Radon.html. Lung cancer development is the health concern for radon gas.
Definition
Radium (combined radium-226 and radium-228) concentrations in picocuries per liter of water or pCi/L in community drinking water systems (CWS) are used in conjunction with information about each CWS (such as service population) to generate the following measures: 1) statewide radium concentration distribution in CWSs by mean and maximum over time, 2) annual distribution of mean and maximum radium concentration for persons served by CWS and 3) annual distribution of mean and maximum radium concentration by CWS. Go to: https://nmtracking.doh.nm.gov/dataportal/query/index.html to calculate your data queries. A CWS is a public water system (PWS) that serves year-round residents of a community, subdivision, or mobile home park that has at least 15 service connections or an average of at least 25 residents. These CWSs are a subset of all New Mexico PWSs.
How the Measure is Calculated
Numerator:
Concentration of Radium.Denominator:
Not applicable.