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Canadian Drinking Water Standards
Fellow Radsafers,
As a Canadian let me help set the record straight here.
We currently have recently issued Federal Drinking Water
Guidelines (from Health Canada) which state 7,000 Bq/L (189,000 pCi/L)
as the limit for Tritium. This , as was pointed out, was based on
an assumed annual dose of 10 mrem.
However, a provincial committee in Ontario (Canadian Province),
proposed that the Ontario government establish limits which were much
lower, ie 20 Bq/L (540 pCi/L). This was supposed to correspond to a
risk of 10-6 for developing a fatal cancer over a lifetime of drinking
water at this level.
Furthermore, this committee was pushing the idea of "zero" discharges
of tritium by facilities into provincial waters for future
consideration.
The proposals, as you might imagine, were met with considerable
opposition, both by the nuclear industry as well as the federal
regulatory agencies.
The proposed Ontario limits have been sent back for review and are
currently in "limbo".
Does this help ?
Jim Presley
Health Physicist
Atomic Energy Control Board
presley.j@atomcon.gc.ca