Laboratory of Natural and Drinking Water Hygiene

The Laboratory was founded in 1931. To 1989 the problems of water were studied in two laboratories of the Institute – the Laboratory of Drinking Water and the Laboratory of Water Basins Sanitary Protection. They were headed by the well-known scientists V.V.Tsapko, Professor, Doctor of Sciences (Medicine) and Ya.I. Kostovetskyi, Professor, Doctor of Sciences (Medicine).
In 1989 both Laboratories were amalgamated into one – the Laboratory of Water Supply Hygiene and Protection of Water Basins.
Now it is the Laboratory of Natural, Drinking Water and Risk Assessment.

V.O. Prokopov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1611-8930), Professor, Doctor of Sciences (Medicine), is a head of the Laboratory.
Tel.: +38(044)292-14-49, e-mail: igme_voda@ukr.net

The main scientific activities:

  • Study of the sanitary state of water resources: improvement of criteria and methods for the monitoring of water quality and methods of the forecast of water quality in water basins, hygienic substantiation of the recommendations for sanitary protection of water basins;
  • Hygienic assessment of the efficiency of water protection measures;
  • Hygienic assessment and normalization of the hazardous chemicals (MAC, ASL) in water of water objects of industrial-drinking and cultural-domestic use;
  • Hygienic assessment of drinking water quality and its impact on the state of health of the population: study of macro- and microelement composition of drinking water, study of the effect of chemical composition of water on the health of the population, assessment of the efficiency of the technologies and the methods of the preparation and conditioning of drinking water, substantiation of the use of new materials, reagents, and systems in drinking water supply;
  • Complex investigations of the content of volatile and non-volatile organochlorines in chlorinated drinking water in different directions: formation, behavior, removal, biological effect on the organism, impact on public health, carcinogenic risk for human health;
  • Development of legislative and normative-and-methodical documents on the preventive and routine supervision in the sphere of the protection of water resources and drinking water supply.

The most significant scientific achievements:

  • Since 2006 the Laboratory researchers have been taking an active part in the implementation of the scientific part of Drinking Water of Ukraine National Program for 2006-2020. In the frames of this program they:
  • Performed the research directed on the development and scientific substantiation of the possibility of the use of mine water in drinking water supply for the first time in the country;
  • Studied and approved for use the guanidine compounds with flocculating and disinfecting effect instead of chlorine in the technology of drinking water preparation;
  • Presented a hygienic assessment of modern household filters and collective systems for drinking water purification proposed for use directly in the areas of its consumption, and developed the guidelines for their choice and use in different regions of Ukraine, etc.
  • On the basis of the result of the monitoring of chlorinated drinking water on the content of highly toxic volatile and non-volatile organochlorines they substantiated and proposed the measures for the minimization of their income in drinking water.