International Standards for Drinking

Previously, two sets of international standards were used WHO European Standards for Drinking Water (last revised in 1970) and WHO International Standards for Drinking Water (last revised in 1971). Revision of these began in December 1978 and was completed in 1982. The revision formed a part of the International Drinking Water and Sanitation Decade, which has the aim of providing a supply of safe drinking water for all by the year 1990. 

World Health Organization International Standards for Drinking Water, 3rd edn., Geneva, p. 37 (1971). 

Sayre JM. International standards for drinking water. J Am Water Works Assoc 1988 80 53-60. 

WHO, (2000) World Health Organization Guidelines and International Standards for Drinking-Water Quality. ACQWS paper No. 3. 

Sources Dabeka, R.W. et al., Food Add. Contain., 89, 1987. WHO, International Standards for Drinking Waters, 2nd ed.. World Health Organization, Geneva, 1963. Reilly, C., Metal Contamination of Food, 2nd ed., Elsevier Applied Science, London, 1991. 

WHO, International Standards for Drinking Waters, 2nd edn. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 1963. 

WHO International Standard for drinking water, 3rd edition, WHO, Geneva, (1971). 

Drinking water intended for human consumption is the most protected foodstuff worldwide and thus many national and international regulations have been introduced to assure a safe drinking water supply. In general, drinking water must be of a quality that under no circumstances would present a hazard to human health. In many countries, such as Germany, standards for water resources that may be used for drinking water production are specified [1]. 

Following a recent World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation to lower the permissible level of lead in drinking water from 50 pgl to 10 pgl, methodologies were required to detect a tenth of the new Hmit, i.e. 1 pgl Work was carried out at STL to introduce ICP-MS the Hmit of detection (LOD) is much lower by this technique than by furnace. Good results for Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, Zn and Ag have been achieved by ICP-MS using the following three internal standards Sc (45), In (115) and Ir (193). This... 

This chapter was prepared for the International Agency for Research on Cancer Symposium on Evaluation of Human Health Risks from Drinking Water (December 14, 1984). The opinions expressed in this chapter are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the position of the USEPA. The authors perspectives are derived from the assessment activities and interactions with many members of the Criteria and Standards Division and others in the USEPA Office of Drinking Water. These include Larry Anderson, Ambika Bathija, Paul Berger, Richard Cothem, William Coniglio, Penelope Fenner-Crisp,... 

With few exceptions, drinking water standards for organic substances did not exist until recently. The WHO European and International Drinking Water Standards (1970 and 1971) included pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and total extractable organics were included in the European edition. 

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