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3.2.2. Drinking Water Directive
The Drinking Water Directive (DWD) sets a concentration limit of 0.1 μg/l for individual pesticides, and of 0.5 µg/l for the total sum of pesticides. Because pesticides are present on a regular basis and in low concentrations, exposure to these chemicals is generally chronic. The health risk is difficult to assess, because data on acceptable doses for chronic exposure are scarce and the low concentrations involved are difficult to monitor (European Environment Agency 2016).
Under the Drinking Water Directive countries report every three years on the quality of drinking water. The data are localised at ‘Water supply zones’, which are the places where the water is used with no information on where it comes from. Exceedances of selected pollutants from drinking water standards are reported. Last reporting in 2018 cover years 2014-2016, next is due to 2021. Results from the years 2010-2013 were described in the Commission report (EC 2016).
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"pesticides are present on a regular basis" This is not clear from the data presented up to this point, so I suggest to delete "on a regular basis"
(Austria): The 3rd sentence is also true for surface and groundwater and not only for drinking water, where it is explicitly emphasised.
This statement could be valid for the a.s. but not for the metabolites. In fact, in the EU pesticide risk assessment where predicted environmental concentrations in groundwater need to be provided based on mathematical models, it is more likely that the drinking water limit is exceeded by the metabolites rather than the active substance,
The statement about the lack of acceptable doses is rather incorrect. Data on acceptable doses for chronic exposure should be available for all pesticides assessed, i.e. approved and not approved following an EU assessment.
1st paragraph: This statement is misleading and incorrect. The health risk from pesticides in drinking water is not difficult to assess - for each and every pesticide on the market there are certainly enough toxicity data to define a reliable chronic ADI. These ADIs are generally orders of magnitude higher than the limit value of 0.1 µg/L, and this very EEA report shows that compliance with that limit value is very close to 100% - it is completely misleading to insinuate chronic pesticide exposure at relevant concentrations via drinking water. And finally, there are certainly no analytical problems anymore for a long time to monitor drinking water at the level of 0.1 µg/L.