DRINKING too much mineral water could make you glow, but not with health. There is so much natural radioactivity in some Hungarian brands of bottled water that regular drinkers could exceed the World Health Organization鈥檚 safety limit.
Radioactivity gets into water with minerals from rocks. A study by scientists from the University of Veszpr茅m in Hungary found high levels of radium-226 in three out of 18 commercial mineral waters. People drinking a litre or more a day could breach the limit of 100 microsieverts a year recommended for drinking water, by the WHO, they say (Radiation Protection Dosimetry, vol 108, p 175).
Lead author Tibor Kov谩cs says children aged between 12 and 17 are most at risk because they drink large amounts of flavoured mineral water and their growing bones are vulnerable to damage from radium. As a precaution, he recommends that people avoid drinking the most radioactive water in place of tap water.
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Previous studies have suggested that mineral waters from France, Germany, Austria and Portugal also contain high levels of natural radioactivity, sometimes in breach of WHO limits. In the UK, a survey of 161 named brands of bottled water from across Europe is due to be published by the government鈥檚 Food Standards Agency in April.