Because radium bioaccumulates, it can affect humans not only through drinking water, but also
through animals used for human consumption if those animals are exposed to elevated levels. One model
used in a study found that the risk of cancer from eating fish from the Gulf of Mexico to be below the
level accepted by the EPA. Drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexicotreat their produced water on-site,
then discharge it into the surrounding water. This produced water contains radium, just like formation
water in the Marcellus Shale, but several important factors that would affect how much radium organisms
are exposed to are different between the Gulf of Mexico and New York State. More research is needed to determine the applicability of the results of this study to the specific case of Marcellus Shale wastewater disposal.