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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

RADIUM 

CAS#: 7440-14-4 

Division of Toxicology December 1990 

This Public Health Statement is the summary 

chapter from the Toxicological Profile for Radium. 

It is one in a series of Public Health Statements 

about hazardous substances and their health effects. 

A shorter version, the ToxFAQsTM, is also 

available. This information is important because 

this substance may harm you. The effects of 

exposure to any hazardous substance depend on the 

dose, the duration, how you are exposed, personal 

traits and habits, and whether other chemicals are 

present. For more information, call the ATSDR 

Information Center at 1-888-422-8737. 

This Statement was prepared to give you 

information about radium and to emphasize the 

human health effects that may result from exposure 

to it. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

has identified 1,177 sites on its National Priorities 

List (NPL). Radium has been found above 

background levels at 18 of these sites. However, we 

do not know how many of the 1,177 NPL sites have 

been evaluated for radium. As EPA evaluates more 

sites, the number of sites at which radium is found 

above background levels may change. The 

information is important for you because radium 

may cause harmful health effects and because these 

sites are potential or actual sources of human 

exposure to radium. 

When a radioactive chemical is released from a 

large area, such as an industrial plant, or from a 

container, such as a drum or bottle, it enters the 

environment as a radioactive chemical emission. 

This emission, which is also called a release, does 

not always lead to exposure. You can be exposed to 

a radioactive chemical when you come into contact 

with that chemical alone or with a substance that 

contains it. You may be exposed to it in the 

environment by breathing, eating, or drinking 

substances containing the radioactive chemical or 

from skin contact with it. Exposure can also occur 

by being near radioactive chemicals at 

concentrations that are found at hazardous waste 

sites or industrial accidents. 

If you are exposed to a hazardous substance such as 

radium, several factors will determine whether 

harmful health effects will occur and what the type 

and severity of those health effects will be. These 

factors include the dose (how much), the duration 

(how long), the route or pathway by which you are 

exposed (breathing, eating, drinking, or skin 

contact), the other chemicals to which you are 

exposed, and your individual characteristics such as 

age, sex, nutritional status, family traits, life style, 

and state of health. 

1.1 WHAT IS RADIUM? 

Radium is a naturally-occurring silvery white 

radioactive metal that can exist in several forms 

called isotopes. It is formed when uranium and 

thorium (two other natural radioactive substances) 

decay (break down) in the environment. Radium has 

been found at very low levels in soil, water, rocks, 

coal, plants, and food. For example, a typical 

amount might be one picogram of radium per gram 

of soil or rock. This would be about one part of 

radium in one trillion (1,000,000,000,000) parts of 

soil or rock. These levels are not expected to change 

with time. 

Some of the radiation from radium is constantly 

being released into the environment. It is this 

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 
 

 

 

 

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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

RADIUM 

CAS#: 7440-14-4 

Division of Toxicology December 1990 

release of radiation that causes concern about the 

safety of radium and all other radioactive 

substances. Each isotope of radium releases 

radiation at its own rate. One isotope, radium-224 

for example, releases half of its radiation in about 

three and a half days; whereas another isotope, 

radium-226, releases half of its radiation in about 

1,600 years. 

When radium decays it divides into two parts. One 

part is called radiation, and the second part is called 

a daughter. The daughter, like radium, is not stable; 

and it also divides into radiation and another 

daughter. The dividing continues until a stable, 

nonradioactive daughter is formed. During the 

decay process, alpha, beta, and gamma radiations 

are released. Alpha particles can travel only a short 

distance and cannot travel through your skin. Beta 

particles can penetrate through your skin, but they 

cannot go all the way through your body. Gamma 

radiation, however, can go all the way through your 

body. Thus, there are several types of decay 

products that result from radium decay. 

1.2 HOW MIGHT I BE EXPOSED TO 

RADIUM? 

Because radium is present, usually at very low 

levels, in the surrounding environment, you are 

always exposed to it and to the small amounts of 

radiation that it releases to its surroundings. You 

may be exposed to higher levels of radium if you 

live in an area where it is released into the air from 

the burning of coal or other fuels, or if your 

drinking water is taken from a source that is high in 

natural radium, such as a deep well, or from a 

source near a radioactive waste disposal site. 

Levels of radium in public drinking water are 

usually less than one picocurie per liter of water 

(about one quart), although higher levels (more than 

5 picocuries per liter) have been found. A picocurie 

(pCi) is a very small amount of radioactivity, and it 

is associated with about a trillionth of a gram (a 

picogram) of radium. (There are approximately 28 

grams in an ounce.) No information is available 

about the amounts of radium that are generally 

present in food and air. You may also be exposed to 

higher levels of radium if you work in a uranium 

mine or in a plant that processes uranium ores. 

1.3 HOW CAN RADIUM ENTER AND LEAVE 

MY BODY? 

Radium can enter the body when it is breathed in or 

swallowed. It is not known if it can be taken in 

through the skin. If you breathe radium into your 

lungs, some may remain there for months; but it 

will gradually enter the blood stream and be carried 

to all parts of the body, especially the bones. 

For months after exposure, very small amounts 

leave the body daily through the feces and urine. If 

radium is swallowed in water or with food, most of 

it (about 80%) will promptly leave the body in the 

feces. The other 20% will enter the blood stream 

and be carried to all parts of the body, especially the 

bones. Some of this radium will then be excreted in 

the feces and urine on a daily basis. 

1.4 HOW CAN RADIUM AFFECT MY 

HEALTH? 

There is no clear evidence that long-term exposure 

to radium at the levels that are normally present in 

the environment (for example, 1 pCi of radium per 

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 
 

 

 

 

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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

RADIUM 

CAS#: 7440-14-4 

Division of Toxicology December 1990 

gram of soil) is likely to result in harmful health 

effects. However, exposure to higher levels of 

radium over a long period of time may result in 

harmful effects including anemia, cataracts, 

fractured teeth, cancer (especially bone cancer), and 

death. Some of these effects may take years to 

develop and are mostly due to gamma radiation. 

Radium gives off gamma radiation, which can 

travel fairly long distances through air. Therefore, 

just being near radium at the high levels that may be 

found at some hazardous waste sites may be 

dangerous to your health. 

1.5 WHAT LEVELS OF EXPOSURE HAVE 

RESULTED IN HARMFUL HEALTH 

EFFECTS? 

Radium has been shown to cause adverse health 

effects such as anemia, cataracts, fractured teeth, 

cancer and death. The relationship between the 

amount of radium that you are exposed to and the 

amount of time necessary to produce these effects is 

not known. Although there is some uncertainty as to 

how much exposure to radium increases your 

chances of developing a harmful health effect, the 

greater the total amount of your exposure to radium, 

the more likely you are to develop one of these 

diseases. 

1.6 IS THERE A MEDICAL TEST TO 

DETERMINE WHETHER I HAVE BEEN 

EXPOSED TO RADIUM? 

There are few medical tests to determine if you 

have been exposed to radium. There is a urine test 

to determine if you have been exposed to a source 

of radioactivity such as radium. There is also a test 

to measure the amount of radon, a breakdown 

product of radium, when it is exhaled. These tests 

require special equipment and cannot be done in a 

doctor's office. Another test can measure the total 

amount of radioactivity in the body; however, this 

test is not used except in special cases of high 

exposure. 

1.7 WHAT RECOMMENDATIONS HAS THE 

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MADE TO 

PROTECT HUMAN HEALTH? 

The EPA has set a drinking water limit of 5 

picocuries per liter (5 pCi/L) for radium-226 and 

radium-228 (combined). 

The EPA has set a soil concentration limit for 

radium-226 in uranium and thorium mill tailings of 

5 picocuries per gram in the first 15 centimeters of 

soil and 15 picocuries per gram in deeper soil. 

The federal recommendations have been updated as 

of July 1999. 

1.8 WHERE CAN I GET MORE 

INFORMATION? 

If you have any more questions or concerns, please 

contact your community or state health or 

environmental quality department or: 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

Division of Toxicology 

1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32 

Atlanta, GA 30333 

Information line and technical assistance: 

Phone: 888-422-8737 

FAX: (770)-488-4178 

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 
 

 

 

 

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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

RADIUM 

CAS#: 7440-14-4 

Division of Toxicology December 1990 

ATSDR can also tell you the location of 

occupational and environmental health clinics. 

These clinics specialize in recognizing, evaluating, 

and treating illnesses resulting from exposure to 

hazardous substances. 

To order toxicological profiles, contact: 

National Technical Information Service 

5285 Port Royal Road 

Springfield, VA 22161 

Phone: 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000 

Reference 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

(ATSDR). 1990. Toxicological profile for radium. 

Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and 

Human Services, Public Health Service. 

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov