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The blog Commonground has an August 25th post addressing a question regarding the assessment of a former on-site hospital that had utilized radium to treat tumors.

The blog Commonground is a forum for discussion of a variety of environmental due diligence issues.

The August 25th post states in part:

Working on a Phase I for a large property which has a historic residence. The residence was built in the early 1900’s and was then used as a hospital from about 1930 to 1955 before returning to residential use. The hospital was reportedly one of the first to use radium to treat tumors.

The post then asks whether anyone has:

. . . had any experience with addressing these types of situations in a Phase I?

The post expresses confidence that as long as no radium was disposed of on-site, there should not be a problem. The post further states there is, however, no information regarding the practices or disposal methods for the radium. It concludes that it is currently deemed a low environmental concern but not a recognized environmental condition (“REC”). Advice is requested.

A post in response states:

It’s absolutely a REC not only for radium but for other chemicals used (many experimental) to treat chronic conditions of the period including tuberculosis, pneumonia, and systemic infections. Goodies such as mercury and other environmentally persistent metals were commonly used. In addition, broken thermometers leaked mercury. . . likely into the site drains. I’d test the area of the former on-lot septic system.

A link to the post can be found here.