Brussels, 23/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The presence of radioactive substances in water destined for human consumption will, in future, be kept under tighter scrutiny within the European Union thanks to a new Euratom directive adopted without debate on Monday 22 October, on the sidelines of the General Affairs Council.
Better protecting human health is the main objective of this directive, which establishes requirements for the protection of public health as regards radioactive substances in water destined for human consumption, given that the ingestion of water is one of the most dangerous means of penetration for these substances into the human body (see EUROPE 10805).
This new legislation lays down parametric values, minimum sampling frequency and water analysis requirements as well as surveillance methods for radon, tritium and indicative doses for the drafting and implementation of monitoring programmes for the member states. It will be up to the states themselves to ensure that the values obtained are representative of water quality for the whole year.
The parametric values are not considered limit values. Therefore, if a check reveals that water does not comply with a parametric value, it will be up to the member states to determine whether this presents a risk to human health and to take corrective measures if necessary to bring the quality of the water up to the level of compliance required to guarantee the protection of human health from radiation. The text provides for the public to be given appropriate information on the quality of water for human consumption.
The new directive covers all drinking water, with the exception of mineral water and medicinal water, which are covered by the specific provisions of two separate pieces of legislation - Directive 2009/54/EC on the exploitation and sale of natural mineral water, and Directive 2001/83/EC instituting a Community code on medicines for human use.
It will enter into force 12 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU and the member states will have two years after its entry into force to transpose it into national law. The European Parliament failed to secure a change to the legal basis of the text. It will be a EURATOM directive, as proposed by the European Commission. (AN/transl.fl)