[Table, Mercury]. - Guidelines for drinking-water quality

Guideline value	0.006 mg/l (6 µg/l) for inorganic mercury
Occurrence	Mercury is present in the inorganic form in surface water and groundwater at concentrations usually below 0.5 µg/l, although local mineral deposits may produce higher levels in groundwater
TDI	2 µg/kg body weight for inorganic mercury based on a NOAEL of 0.23 mg/kg body weight per day for kidney effects in a 26-week study in rats and applying an uncertainty factor of 100 (for interspecies and intraspecies variation) after adjusting for daily dosing
Limit of detection	0.05 µg/l by cold vapour AAS; 0.6 µg/l by ICP; 5 µg/l by flame AAS
Treatment performance	It should be possible to achieve a concentration below 1 µg/l by treatment of raw waters that are not grossly contaminated with mercury using methods that include coagulation/sedimentation/filtration, PAC and ion exchange.
Guideline value derivation
• allocation to water	10% of TDI
• weight	60 kg adult
• consumption	2 litres/day
Additional comments	A similar TDI may be obtained by applying an uncertainty factor of 1000 (an additional uncertainty factor of 10 for adjustment from a LOAEL to a NOAEL) to the LOAEL for renal effects of 1.9 mg/kg body weight per day in a 2-year NTP study in rats.
The current guideline value applies to inorganic mercury, which is the form found in drinking-water, whereas the previous guideline value applied to total (inorganic and organic) mercury.
Assessment date	2004
Principal references	IPCS (2003) Elemental mercury and inorganic mercury compounds WHO (2005) Mercury in drinking-water

Guideline value

0.006 mg/l (6 µg/l) for inorganic mercury

Occurrence

Mercury is present in the inorganic form in surface water and groundwater at concentrations usually below 0.5 µg/l, although local mineral deposits may produce higher levels in groundwater

TDI

2 µg/kg body weight for inorganic mercury based on a NOAEL of 0.23 mg/kg body weight per day for kidney effects in a 26-week study in rats and applying an uncertainty factor of 100 (for interspecies and intraspecies variation) after adjusting for daily dosing

Limit of detection

0.05 µg/l by cold vapour AAS; 0.6 µg/l by ICP; 5 µg/l by flame AAS

Treatment performance

It should be possible to achieve a concentration below 1 µg/l by treatment of raw waters that are not grossly contaminated with mercury using methods that include coagulation/sedimentation/filtration, PAC and ion exchange.

Guideline value derivation

• allocation to water

10% of TDI

• weight

60 kg adult

• consumption

2 litres/day

Additional comments

A similar TDI may be obtained by applying an uncertainty factor of 1000 (an additional uncertainty factor of 10 for adjustment from a LOAEL to a NOAEL) to the LOAEL for renal effects of 1.9 mg/kg body weight per day in a 2-year NTP study in rats.

The current guideline value applies to inorganic mercury, which is the form found in drinking-water, whereas the previous guideline value applied to total (inorganic and organic) mercury.

Assessment date

2004

Principal references

IPCS (2003) Elemental mercury and inorganic mercury compounds

WHO (2005) Mercury in drinking-water

From: 12, Chemical fact sheets

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Guidelines for drinking-water quality: Fourth edition incorporating the first and second addenda [Internet].

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