ArticlePloS one2023
A comprehensive survey and analysis of international drinking water regulations for inorganic chemicals with comparisons to the World Health Organization's drinking-water guidelines.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Development of a green and sustainable rice husk nanosilica-based spectrophotometric probe for dual detection of Ag(i) and Fe(iii) in environmental and E-waste matrices.RSC advances · 2026Article
- A comparative analysis of groundwater quality in a suburban area of Bangladesh.Scientific reports · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe World Health Organization (WHO) has published criteria for determining the quality of drinking water since 1958. Since 1984, these criteria were termed "guidelines" to emphasize that they are not national standards, but rather guidelines for nations to develop their own national standards, which may take into account local environmental, social, economic, and cultural conditions. When calculating guideline values (GVs), the WHO reviews the toxicological literature, calculates a health-based value (HBV), and determines whether the HBV should be adopted as a GV. The WHO also considers aesthetic aspects of drinking water quality, such as taste and the staining of plumbing fixtures, and additionally supplies aesthetic values (AVs) for certain drinking water contaminants. There is no central registry for national drinking water standards, so the degree of variation of national drinking water standards is not known.
methodsWe examined standards, guidelines, and background documents for all inorganic contaminants published by the WHO from 1958-2022. We also searched for national drinking water standards for all independent countries.
resultsWe found the WHO currently has 16 GVs, six HBVs without GVs, and six AVs without HBVs or GVs for inorganic drinking water contaminants, excluding disinfection agents and their byproducts. More than half of the point of departure studies used to support these values were published in 2005 or earlier. Ninety-eight percent of the world's population lives in jurisdictions with drinking water standards, and 14 countries directly link their national standards to the current WHO's drinking water guidelines. Lack of transparency (standards available only through purchase) and typographical errors are common problems, especially for resource-limited countries.
conclusionsThe WHO drinking water guidelines are crucially important for drinking water safety; they are used for guidance or as official standards throughout the world. It is crucial that they be based on the best available science.
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