Are we drinking radioactive water? If the shortcut is crude, reality is measured to the nearest becquerel. Tritium pollution, a radioactive form of hydrogen released by nuclear power plants into waterways, is measured regularly by regional health agencies as part of the health control of tap water.
According to the summary of data from the data.gouv site, published on December 9, 2024 by the Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity (Criirad), tritium was detected in the drinking water of nearly 2,000 municipalities, and more particularly in areas located along rivers, downstream of nuclear power plants, and in particular along the Vienne and the Loire.
In Indre-et-Loire, tritium was detected in 57 of the 263 municipalities where it was searched, with the highest frequencies and rates in Tours, Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, La Membrolle-sur-Choisille. , La Riche, Saint-Avertin or even Saint-Genouph. By highlighting this data, theEnvironmental NGO intends to open the debate on the risks of radioactive pollution of our waterways.
Proven but weak radioactivity
Naturally present in the environment, but at concentrations not exceeding 2 becquerels per liter, tritium is part of this “natural” radioactivity in the environment. The rates recorded in Indre-et-Loire are well above this “background noise”, but remain below the dangerous thresholds.
Even the highest concentration rates, which reach 47.9 becquerels per liter in Tours and La Riche, are well below the drinking threshold, established at 10,000 Bq/liter by the World Health Organization, and below the reference value set in France at 100 Bq/liter, above which the authorities must launch an investigation to determine the origin of the radioactive pollution.
To highlight the non-dangerousness of tritium concentrations in drinking water, some on social networks are bringing up the comparison with the “banana equivalent dose”, regularly mentioned to make the subject palpable, in communications on energy nuclear. According to this informal unit, a 150 g banana, naturally radioactive due to the presence of potassium 40, would have a radioactivity of 19.5 Bq… Or half a liter of tap water in Tours.
A call for vigilance
By publishing, with supporting maps and tables, a summary of the results of regulatory controls carried out in France, Criirad acts as a whistleblower. The environmental organization estimates in a press release that “it is necessary to document all municipalities supplied with drinking water contaminated by tritium”and that he “it is high time to review the standards in force”which according to Criirad “are not protective enough, especially since releases into the environment will increase with the construction of new nuclear reactors”.
