Radium in Water Supplies

["Mercado, Don" <don.mercado@lmco.com>]

An extract from the article...

The USGS found that the radium content in the Kirkwood-Cohansey
                  aquifer ranged from 0 to 30.3 picocuries per liter of
water, with the
                  highest levels in Cumberland County.

                  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set a
limit of 5
                  picocuries per liter of water as the maximum amount of
radium allowed in
                  drinking water. In interviews, EPA officials in Washington
said no amount
                  of radium is safe to ingest and that a limit of 5 was set
because of
                  "economic considerations."

                  "We set 5 for practical reasons and because of the cost of
treatment," said
                  David Huber, the EPA's national radium expert. "Our goal
is 0," he said.

                  The EPA says that at 5 picocuries, one in 10,000 adults
who drink the
                  water over their lifetime risks fatal cancer. As the
amount of radium
                  increases, so does the risk factor, officials said.

                  Using those numbers, federal officials estimate that more
than 50 adults in
                  South Jersey are likely to develop fatal cancer as a
result of longterm
                  drinking of water from the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer. The
EPA is doing
                  studies on the effects of radium on children.


Donald P. Mercado
Radiation Safety Officer
Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space
O/47-20, B/101
1111 Lockheed Martin Way
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Ph. (408) 742-0759
Fax (408) 742-0611
Email: Don.mercado@lmco.com

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