A tap turns on in a Hammonton kitchen. Water comes out, clear and tasteless. It is used to fill a water bottle, make coffee, cook pasta, and complete many other daily tasks.
It also is radioactive, as is virtually every drop of water ever pumped from South Jersey’s soil.
Radium, a naturally occuring, radiological element that results from decaying uranium and thorium, is ever present in some concentration in sand and rock around the world. It is typically found in a solid form but dissolves into water under certain conditions. It is particularly soluble in acidic water, such as that found in South Jersey, which is made even more acidic from heavy agricultural fertilizer use.
“The very sandy soils that exist in southern New Jersey are very acidic to start with, so they’re extremely naturally vulnerable to this kind of issue,” said Zoltan Szabo, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey New Jersey Water Science Center.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_88ca57e2-034b-11e1-a486-001cc4c002e0.html
It also is radioactive, as is virtually every drop of water ever pumped from South Jersey’s soil.
Radium, a naturally occuring, radiological element that results from decaying uranium and thorium, is ever present in some concentration in sand and rock around the world. It is typically found in a solid form but dissolves into water under certain conditions. It is particularly soluble in acidic water, such as that found in South Jersey, which is made even more acidic from heavy agricultural fertilizer use.
“The very sandy soils that exist in southern New Jersey are very acidic to start with, so they’re extremely naturally vulnerable to this kind of issue,” said Zoltan Szabo, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey New Jersey Water Science Center.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_88ca57e2-034b-11e1-a486-001cc4c002e0.html
