Bacterial water quality and risk evaluation of bottled drinking water in China

Abstract

In this paper, bacterial water quality of bottled water in China was reviewed. National spot-check results revealed that 17.5% of samples were contaminated, 79.3% of which were due to exceeding microbial level. The annual infectious risk of people drinking bottled water everyday exceeded 1:10000 for all ages. Assuming acceptable risk is 10−4 per year, it would be considered safe if annual exposure times are less than 78 days. Strict adherence to principles of good manufacturing practices is essential through process control and personal hygiene should be maintained at the processing facility, to reduce the infection risks. Enforcement of the existing regulations and laws is also necessary to achieve this goal. Further research is needed on relationships between common bacteria and pathogens in drinking water, in order to better understand the ecology of microorganisms, and to perform a better health risk analysis for pathogens in bottled water.