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EPA Sets Bromate MCL at 10 ppb
FDA to Add to Bottled Water Requirements
The EPA has set the MCL for Bromate (a
carcinogen) at 10 ppb. The FDA is now expected to add Bromate to the
regulations for Bottled Water analysis.
Earlier this year, the IBWA recommended that member bottlers begin
testing for bromate and bromide to establish if they are at risk for
converting bromide to bromate through ozonation. Many bottlers took
this advice and have performed the recommended four monthly samples.
Some received good news—no detection of bromate or bromide, or no
conversion of bromide to bromate. Others were surprised to find out
that they needed to take corrective action to meet the MCL or avoid
conversion altogether.
It
is likely that bromide analysis which may have been performed as part
of prior annual testing was not at a low enough detection level.
Analysis needs to be performed at a detection level of 10 ppb or
lower. The IBWA has recommended testing for bromate and bromide once
a month for four consecutive months to establish a baseline. If no
exceedence or detection exists, no further action is necessary.
Although, it would be a good idea to do a quarterly or semi-annual
test to keep current data available. This documentation should be
kept on file in the event that customers begin to raise questions
about bromate.
If
a bromate problem is discovered, steps should be taken to avoid
conversion. Areas to be examined are the ozonation dosage, number of
stages in which ozonation is applied, and exposure time at each stage.
Bromate and
bromide analysis, at a cost of $60.00 per
sample for both parameters, is a minimal
investment
to
have documentation on file that no problems exist. If bromate does
exceed the MCL, there is still time to take corrective action before
regulatory enforcement.
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