Publication of the Laboratory of Surface Water Safety on approaches to the evaluation and use of disinfectants for drinking water in Ukraine and EU countries

The journal «Ukrainian Journal of Military Medicine,» which is part of the international scientometric database Scopus, published an article «Analysis of approaches to the assessment and application of disinfectants for drinking water in Ukraine, EU and NATO countries,» the first author of which is Olesia Zorina, Head of the Laboratory of Surface Water Safety of the SI «IPH NAMSU,» Doctor of Biological Sciences, Senior Researcher.

The article analyzes the main approaches to the assessment, effective and safe use of disinfectants for drinking water treatment in Ukraine, the EU, and NATO countries to protect public health and military personnel. The paper provides a comparative analysis of the provisions of the national regulations of 22 EU countries on the assessment and conditions of use of disinfectants, as well as the relevant provisions of Directive 2020/2184/EU on the quality of water intended for human consumption, Regulation (EU) No. 528/2012 on the placing on the market and use of biocidal products, and Sanitary, and State Sanitary and Epidemiological Norms and Regulations 2.2.4-171-10 «Hygienic Requirements for Drinking Water Intended for Human Consumption.» Based on the health risk assessment, the article analyzes the treatment methods and quality of drinking water produced by disinfection with chlorine and chlorine dioxide at water supply stations in Ukraine and the EU. Research methods: bibliographic, regulatory search, comparative analysis, analytical, chemical, microbiological, risk assessment.

The article states that EU Member States must guarantee the safety and effectiveness of chemicals for drinking water treatment. To this end, each EU country has developed and implemented different approaches and criteria that take into account the requirements of Regulation (EU) No. 528/2012 and Directive 2020/2184/EU. The main criteria for the effectiveness and safety of disinfectants for drinking water disinfection are: their composition and manufacturing technology, storage time and conditions, doses, contact time with water, disinfection conditions, quality and quantity of source water, amount of residual disinfectant content and disinfection by-products, etc. Mandatory production tests of disinfectants for industrial use should include, at a minimum, determination of epidemic safety indicators, residual concentrations of disinfectants and disinfection by-products.

It has been established that EU countries have approved different standards for disinfection by-products, residual amounts of disinfectants (reagents) in drinking water, methods, and parameters for determining their effectiveness. To increase the efficiency of disinfection and minimize disinfection by-products, EU countries use mostly more effective methods (pre-treatment of surface water from organic substances, sorption treatment, combined use of various disinfection methods) than in Ukraine (limiting the doses of disinfectants, using a combination of different reagents). The use of disinfectants in the practice of drinking water supply should be carried out after comprehensive research by the manufacturer (or supplier), as well as drinking water supply companies, and all possible options for their use as part of various technological approaches in the warm season should be evaluated.

The study found that the legal requirements for the evaluation and use of drinking water disinfectants differ significantly from country to country in the EU, and in Ukraine they do not meet the requirements of European legislation. Today, Ukraine needs to develop a procedure for state registration of drinking water disinfectants and a methodology for determining their effectiveness, revise the list, criteria for determining and permitted levels of residual concentrations of disinfection by-products in drinking water, taking into account the requirements of European legislation, and establish the conditions, duration and periods of the year for carrying out production tests.

Reference to the article:
Zorina, O.V., Surmasheva, O.V., Ivanko О.М., Polka, O.O., & Mavrykin, E.O. (2025). Analysis of approaches to the assessment and application of disinfectants for drinking water in Ukraine, EU and NATO countries . Ukrainian Journal of Military Medicine, 6(1), 48-56. https://doi.org/10.46847/ujmm.2025.1(6)-048

Head of the Laboratory of Surface Water Safety,
Doctor of Biological Sciences, Senior Researcher
Olesia Zorina

State Institution «Marzieiev Institute for Public Health of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine»

(date of publication on the website 14.07.2025)