My housemate Dan and I were sitting at the kitchen table a few days ago on our laptops, and he mentioned that a professor at Duke University had done a study on Southern Jordan’s natural water aquifers. Seems there’s a little issue with cancer-causing levels of the radioactive element Radium in the water, on the lines of 2000% above international and EPA-recommended safe levels for drinking water. It apparently doesn’t affect Amman or the northern part of the country, but people in the south and even in nearby countries (Saudi, Palestine, Israel) should definitely have cause for alarm.
The above video sums up his research, in which he also adds his advice for an easy resolution.
In fact, you can manage it. It’s not something that’s impossible to manage. A simple ionic change, a softener, would remove the radium from the water. Reverse osmosis distillation would do the same.”
I found Doctor Vengosh’s address at Duke University and emailed him to ask him about showering in radium-filled water in Aqaba. He replied to me within a few hours, reassuring me that although he certainly advised against consuming any of the water in the area, showering should not be a problem because the radium is not entering your body and being absorbed into your bones, which is how it affects people who drink it.
It’s not for certain now, but there’s a strong possibility that I’ll be doing some work or projects down in the Aqaba region, Jordan’s southernmost city, which will necessitate me visiting the area much more frequently. If the fix that Vengosh proposes is so simple, I can only pray that it’s been brought to the attention of the Jordanian authorities by now and that subsidized softeners (at least) have been provided for the citizens. More than anything else, I’d worry about the safety of the Bedouin, native Arabs who still live out in the desert with original wells who are probably not buying filtered bottled water from corner markets like the average Aqaban.
It’s something I’ll definitely ask around about in Aqaba when I’m there in five days for the Dead 2 Red. But no matter how hard I’m panting at the end of the race, I won’t be swigging down the first open bottle that’s proffered to me.
I live in Aqaba and I’m alarmed by the suggestion that there are high levels of radium in the water. We only drink bottled water at home, but I do use tap water for cooking and we dine out a lot and I’m sure the restaurants are using tap water.
Other than drinking bottled water and using bottled water when cooking, what other protective measures can we take?
Hi Muna,
Unfortunately I’m not an expert on the subject, and it seems like you’re already taking suitable proactive action in your own home. Of course, you can’t control what other people or businesses do. My best advice is to spread the word around as much as you can to others in Aqaba and maybe even bring it up to the local governor.
Here’s Doctor Vengosh’s contact page: http://fds.duke.edu/db/Nicholas/eos/faculty/vengosh – He might have more advice for you. He was very helpful for me!
Good luck and stay safe!
waoh scary 🙁
This raises a few questions — the EPA studies linked covered only radium levels near the MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level) of 5 (and up to 9) pCi/l, which produced a Lifetime Excess Cancer Risk from 0.7 (ie, 30% decrease!) to 2.9 (almost 3-fold increase) depending on the study; I wonder if anybody has studied long term consumption of water at up to 20x the MCL (ie, 100 pCi/l)? One might guess that people using water from this aquifer would have much higher rates of osteosarcoma, particularly in males, than the general population elsewhere (as in northern Jordan). Is this indeed the case?
How much of the bottled water sold in the Aqaba area is obtained from this source, and is it reliably treated by reverse osmosis prior to bottling?