1) You simply cannot believe everything you read!
Inaccuracies or misleading items in the article:
a) Winslow's Public well with a radium level of 10.7pci/l
While speaking to the superintendent of water at Winslow Township, I was informed that the well was no longer in use.
2) The article states that @ 5pci/l, one in 10,000 adults who drink the water over their lifetime risks fatal cancer
I have searched the EPA web site and the informational sources of the Office of Safe Drinking Water and I have not found that statistic. I have found that in 1991 the EPA estimated at the level of 300pci/l the health risks to be 2 in 10,000. Results from a current study are pending. (I am waiting for a reply from the EPA concerning the health risks at 5pci/l of radium)
According to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), radium is a much more dangerous element when water is used during common household chores. Radium will become gaseous during agitation in water (showers, washing dishes, laundry etc.) and consequently enter the lungs.
What about Winslow's water?
At the level of 2.9pci/l (See NJDEP Letter), it appears that Winslow does not have a current problem with Radium in the Public water (notwithstanding EPA's claim that 0 pci/l is appropriate).
What should we do to keep the water safe ?
An excellent source of information- Rutgers Cooperative Extension Fact Sheets.
