What’s in Your Water: Radionuclides

Greetings! We’re back with another blog for our “What’s in Your Water?” series, which examines the most common pollutants you might be unknowingly consuming in your drinking water. In this article, we’re looking at radioactive contaminants in tap water and private well systems around the U.S. If you missed the last installment on heavy metal contamination, you can read that here. 

When you think “radioactive water,” you might think of nuclear power plants or disaster zones…nothing necessarily near you. But for Americans–even those of us who live in remote or small communities–dangerous radioactive elements can easily make their way into our drinking water without us knowing any of the wiser. 

But how are there radioactive elements in our water? Some common contaminants, like uranium, radon, and radium, occur naturally in the earth’s crust and seep into waterways. Places with a lot of drilling and mining, however, tend to have higher levels of radioactive stuff in the soil and water. When you have too much in a water system, people can start to get very sick. 

Today, somewhere around 170 million people in the U.S. drink radioactive tap water, with who knows how many more drinking contaminated water from private wells. This problem is a big one–but not enough people are talking about it. In this blog, we break down the causes of this type of contamination, potential impact to your health, and how to keep your household safe from consuming radioactive elements every time someone goes for a drink from the tap.

What are Radionuclides?

We can take a page from your high school or college chemistry course to understand the science behind this hidden crisis. “Radionuclides” are unstable isotopes that release radiation over time. While some forms of radiation–such as visible light–are safe, ionizing radiation (alpha, beta, and gamma radiation) is invisible and can break down DNA and wreak havoc on our tissues.

The most common radionuclides in our water (radon, uranium, and radium-226 and 228) are often found in granite or limestone. Places with these rock formations are more likely to have groundwater with radioactive elements higher than what is deemed safe for consumption. Got some large granite outcroppings near your home? Might want to look at the local water quality reports.

Pollution plays a factor, too. In regions with lots of agriculture, mining/drilling, or nuclear power generation (past or present), soils and groundwater often have elevated levels of radioactive contamination. This can spell trouble for the health of farms, plants, and people. In particular, rural and remote communities in places with a history of uranium mining or oil extraction can have dangerous concentrations of radioactive isotopes in water that cause severe problems for nearby communities..

Because radionuclides sneak into drinking water supplies naturally and due to industry, virtually any water system nationwide is vulnerable to uranium, radium, or radon contamination. As such, it’s vital that those of us living on smaller or private water systems–that may lack the infrastructure or testing to monitor–understand the dangers associated with these elements when they find their way into our pipes. Nobody wants to drink irradiated water!

What is the Risk to Public Health?

Reading about radioactive elements, your mind might immediately turn to the more notorious effects of radioactivity, such as reactor meltdown or the fallout from a bomb. While radionuclides in water don’t result in such widespread catastrophe, prolonged exposure can result in serious health issues for individuals and communities that mirror some of the horrors we’ve come to associate with all things “radioactive.”

What are the risks of drinking radioactive water?

• Cancer: Because radiation damages cellular DNA, consuming water with radioactive elements can lead to various types of cancers. This is a particular risk to vulnerable populations, such as children.
  
  
• Reproductive problems: Radioactivity has wide-reaching effects on fertility and fetal/child development. 
  
  
• Kidney damage: Chronic exposure to uranium can lead to kidney problems.
  
  
• Bone disease: We absorb radium in our bones. Consuming it can lead to bone disease or skeletal disorders. 

If you look up this problem online, you’ll see stories from recent decades detailing increased health problems and cancer clusters popping up in places with radioactive water. Some contend there’s been an uptick due to certain polluting industries in some places. With radioactive isotopes particularly harmful to children, it’s important to stay in the know to keep your family’s water supply safe.

What Can You Do?

If you haven’t already done so, the first thing is to understand the water quality where you live. Even if you live in a region that lacks any major industry, your water might still have unwanted levels of things like uranium! Head to Environmental Working Group’s Interactive Tap Water Database to plug in your zip code and see documented pollutants.

You might be thinking, “What about my well?” Unfortunately, private water systems such as wells are susceptible to radioactive contamination. Around 13 million households rely on private well water in the U.S., but they are not monitored or regulated. Well owners have to test their water for contaminants, including radionuclides. Because of this, radioactive contamination can go undetected or unchecked. 

Outside of spreading awareness and testing, what else are you able to do? First, you can stay up to date on your locality’s water quality information. But while all municipal systems monitor for radioactive elements, lots of places simply don’t have the resources to respond to major quality concerns when they arise. Buying water treatments/filters for either public or private water is another option, but even then, only some filters will work for certain contaminants.

There hasn’t been an easy, one-size-fits-all solution to keeping our water free of radioactivity. SOURCE has a different approach to making sure all your home’s water is the purest water possible: sourcing it from the water vapor in the air.

Because SOURCE Hydropanel captures water pure from the air, further purifies it, and then mineralizes it for health/taste, there is a zero percent chance that radioactive contaminants can get into your drinking supply. Since it’s not water from the ground, SOURCE sidesteps the potential of natural or human-made radioactive contaminants from entering your tap. 

You can learn more about Hydropanel for homes here. You also have the option of signing up for a free Virtual Site Survey to get a consultation on how SOURCE can help you enjoy safer water and a healthier future.