Getting an X-ray dose of Alpha particles per liter of water?

[RealNeat]

I was looking into a popular water brand in the Midwest called chippewa water from Wisconsin. When I looked at their water quality report it mentioned Alpha particles in the water "P1 Gross Alpha: 5.4 pCi/L"

https://premiumwaters.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2022-CCR-Chippewa-Spring-Water-REV-1.pdf

Later I found this article talking about how that level is equivalent to 1 X-ray and that it falls in the safe range... how is it safe to have an X-ray dose of radiation for every liter of water consumed!? However, I will say that the article doesn't mention the dose per liter but that's what the above test used as a range, so I'm assuming they (the article below) means pCi/L.

"Most drinking water sources have very low levels of alpha radiation and are not considered to be a health concern. Levels at or less than 5 pCi/ do not even require further testing. This level is comparable to having one x-ray."

Gross Alpha in Drinking Water | Health Effects & Treatment Options

Gross Alpha is a test that is performed to measure the overall radioactivity in drinking water.

www.atsenvironmental.com

How common and severe of a problem is this? To me it seems pretty disturbing. How many waters are contaminated and the consumers or well owners don't know?

I'm not sure if I'm dissecting this correctly as I have limited knowledge of ionizing radiation but it seemed alarming at first sight.

I know alpha particles don't pass even a sheet of paper but it seems that consuming or breathing them in is where the major risks are.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

I was looking into a popular water brand in the Midwest called chippewa water from Wisconsin. When I looked at their water quality report it mentioned Alpha particles in the water "P1 Gross Alpha: 5.4 pCi/L"

https://premiumwaters.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2022-CCR-Chippewa-Spring-Water-REV-1.pdf

Later I found this article talking about how that level is equivalent to 1 X-ray and that it falls in the safe range... how is it safe to have an X-ray dose of radiation for every liter of water consumed!? However, I will say that the article doesn't mention the dose per liter but that's what the above test used as a range, so I'm assuming they (the article below) means pCi/L.

"Most drinking water sources have very low levels of alpha radiation and are not considered to be a health concern. Levels at or less than 5 pCi/ do not even require further testing. This level is comparable to having one x-ray."

Gross Alpha in Drinking Water | Health Effects & Treatment Options

Gross Alpha is a test that is performed to measure the overall radioactivity in drinking water.

www.atsenvironmental.com

How common and severe of a problem is this? To me it seems pretty disturbing. How many waters are contaminated and the consumers or well owners don't know?

I'm not sure if I'm dissecting this correctly as I have limited knowledge of ionizing radiation but it seemed alarming at first sight.

I know alpha particles don't pass even a sheet of paper but it seems that consuming or breathing them in is where the major risks are.

Ever since Ray Peat says drinking water isn’t too necessary, and that it is better to get hydrated where there is nutrition to be had, I quit drinking water, for the most part, a few years back. He says drinking water flushes out nutrients without adding any and that we are the only species that drinks water when we are not thirsty. He says drinking milk is better because the cows filter out all the toxins. I don’t want the fluoride either, which I discover I am allergic too. Fluoride probably has been a big culprit for all my issues my whole life. Do they even test for fluoride in allergy tests? It is ironic how toxic bottled water is, between what you posted and the “forever plastics” leached into the water, and then people pay for it, when they would have been better off buying some milk or just drinking some filtered brewed coffee.

 

[RealNeat]

Ever since Ray Peat says drinking water isn’t too necessary, and that it is better to get hydrated where there is nutrition to be had, I quit drinking water, for the most part, a few years back. He says drinking water flushes out nutrients without adding any and that we are the only species that drinks water when we are not thirsty. He says drinking milk is better because the cows filter out all the toxins. I don’t want the fluoride either, which I discover I am allergic too. Fluoride probably has been a big culprit for all my issues my whole life. Do they even test for fluoride in allergy tests? It is ironic how toxic bottled water is, between what you posted and the “forever plastics” leached into the water, and then people pay for it, when they would have been better off buying some milk or just drinking some filtered brewed coffee.

I agree and barely drink plain water myself however I do shower in it, have a bidet and use it to cook with, so one way or another it still enters the body. A whole house RO system seems to be the way to go according to Rays email response to a friend about radiation in water;

"If reverse osmosis doesn’t get it all, passing it over coffee grounds is likely to get any that remained." RP (2021)

 

[Perry Staltic]

x-rays are gamma rays so they penetrate the whole body. You're not getting the same effect with alpha particles.

 

[RealNeat]

x-rays are gamma rays so they penetrate the whole body. You're not getting the same effect with alpha particles.

Doesn't that mean the particles will exert their X-ray worth of radiation in a single area which may make it even worse?

 

[Perry Staltic]

Doesn't that mean the particles will exert their X-ray worth of radiation in a single area which may make it even worse?

Alpha rays can't penetrate dead skin cells, so I doubt passing through passages lined with mucous they are having any effect at all

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

I agree and barely drink plain water myself however I do shower in it, have a bidet and use it to cook with, so one way or another it still enters the body. A whole house RO system seems to be the way to go according to Rays email response to a friend about radiation in water;

"If reverse osmosis doesn’t get it all, passing it over coffee grounds is likely to get any that remained." RP (2021)

We have water filters on our shower heads and I use the purified fluoride free water from my gravity filter to cook with.