title: Compliance data for the occurrence of radium and gross alpha-particle activity in drinking water supplies in the United States.
abstract: Most of the results of the first systematic nationwide monitoring of public water supplies for 226Ra have been received. Approximately 50,000 public water supplies have been sampled of a total of 59,812. It is estimated that once the drinking water from all supplies has been analyzed, approx. 500 samples will exceed the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 5 pCi/l. Almost all the violations occur for ground water supplies. Monitoring in some states is incomplete but the geographical distribution of these water supplies that exceed the MCL is clear. This study is compared to other information concerning the concentration of 226Ra in drinking water supplies and the implications of this information are discussed.
mesh_terms: D000512:Alpha Particles; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011883:Radium / Q000032:analysis*; D014481:United States; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D011883:Radium