Public Consultation Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality – Guideline Technical Document on Strontium

Hi all…the deadlines for providing comments to Health Canada on their ‘Guidance document on the use of quantitative microbial risk assessment in drinking water’ and ‘Proposed guideline technical document on copper in drinking water’ documents have expired but a ‘Proposed guideline technical document on strontium in drinking water’ is now available for public comment at: www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/programs/consultation-strontium-drinking-water/document.html

As far as I can determine, this is a new addition to Health Canada’s Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality (and not a revision). I checked the Ontario Drinking Water Standards and there is no maximum acceptable concentration (MAC) for strontium. Note that strontium should not be confused with the artificial radionuclide strontium-90 for which there are guidelines and standards.Interested parties are encouraged to provide comments and suggestions to HC.water-eau.SC@canada.ca by July 20, 2018.

Bill

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1.0 Proposed guideline

“A maximum acceptable concentration (MAC) of 7.0 mg/L is proposed for total strontium in drinking water.” 

2.0 Executive summary

“Strontium is widely distributed in nature and has been identified in many different minerals. It may be present in water in the environment from natural sources (rock and soil weathering) or as a result of human activities. Although not actively mined in Canada, strontium can be released to the environment as a by-product of other mining operations or from its usage in many industries. Strontium is used in electrical applications and paint, to remove lead from zinc electrolytic solutions, in pyrotechnics and signalling devices, as well as in the manufacture of various other products (e.g., glass, ceramic permanent magnets and glazes, aluminum alloys). Strontium salts are employed in Canada for their beneficial effects on health, either as natural health products (licensed mainly to help support bone health) or in cancer therapy. Radioactive forms of strontium are used in medical applications, such as bone imaging. Strontium is naturally found in the environment as a mixture of four radioisotopes, which are considered stable and weakly radioactive. The focus of this document is limited to strontium’s chemical properties.

This guideline technical document reviews and assesses all identified health risks associated with strontium in drinking water. It assesses new studies and approaches and takes into consideration the availability of appropriate treatment technology. Based on this review, the proposed guideline for strontium in drinking water is a maximum acceptable concentration of 7.0 mg/L.”