Water intake rate among the general Korean population.

Public concerns about water pollution have led to the assessment of risks associated with waterborne pollutants. The water intake rate is a key exposure factor that needs to be employed in the risk assessment of water contaminants. However, water consumption patterns vary considerably due to many factors, including region, culture, and time. Because limited information is available on the water intake rate in Asian countries, we carried out a nationwide survey using an online questionnaire to assess the direct tap water and beverage consumption within the general Korean population. To measure seasonal variation in water consumption, this survey was conducted twice, in the spring (n=1092) and summer (n=1148) of 2006. Water intake rates were assessed by age, gender, season, and region. The average rate total water intake was 2566.2 ml/day (direct tap water 1015.9 ml/day; beverage 1073.0 ml/day; indirect tap water 477.3 ml/day) in the spring. Indirect tap water intake through the consumption of water-rich dishes occupies 18.5% of average total water intake. In the summer, the average consumption of direct tap water and beverages increased by up to 19.7 and 7.6%, respectively. For the exposure assessment of water related environmental contaminants, a value of 1493 mg/L is proposed as a central tendency value and for a reasonable maximum, a value of 2914 mg/L (90th percentile) is suggested. This exposure factor may be used in regions with geographic and ethnic characteristics similar to Korea.

[1]  E. Weiderpass,et al.  Feasibility of Using Web-based Questionnaires in Large Population-based Epidemiological Studies , 2005, European Journal of Epidemiology.

[2]  T. Stenström,et al.  Drinking water consumption patterns in Sweden. , 2006, Journal of water and health.

[3]  Christophe Matthys,et al.  Validity and reproducibility of an adolescent web-based food frequency questionnaire. , 2007, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[4]  M E Gillies,et al.  Variability of mineral intakes from drinking water: a possible explanation for the controversy over the relationship of water quality to cardiovascular disease. , 1983, International journal of epidemiology.

[5]  L. Gofti-Laroche,et al.  [Description of drinking water intake in French communities (E.MI.R.A. study)]. , 2001, Revue d'epidemiologie et de sante publique.

[6]  T J Mason,et al.  Bladder cancer, drinking water source, and tap water consumption: a case-control study. , 1987, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[7]  K. Cantor,et al.  Total water and tapwater intake in the United States: population-based estimates of quantities and sources , 1989 .

[8]  Martine Ledrans,et al.  Tap water consumption in France: Results from the INCA1 diet survey , 2003 .

[9]  L. Brown,et al.  Intake of tapwater and total water by pregnant and lactating women. , 1991, American journal of public health.

[10]  P. Levallois,et al.  New patterns of drinking-water consumption: results of a pilot study. , 1998, The Science of the total environment.

[11]  J. Wyatt,et al.  Using the Internet for Surveys and Health Research , 2002, Journal of medical Internet research.

[12]  Charles P. Gerba,et al.  Modeling the Risk from Giardia and Viruses in Drinking Water , 1991 .

[13]  D. McBain,et al.  The contribution of drinking water to exposure to toxic substances in Canada , 1982, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[14]  D E Burmaster,et al.  Lognormal distributions for water intake by children and adults. , 1992, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[15]  Pyungho Kim,et al.  Is Korea a Strong Internet Nation? , 2006, Inf. Soc..

[16]  F Dangendorf,et al.  Estimation of the consumption of cold tap water for microbiological risk assessment: an overview of studies and statistical analysis of data. , 2007, Journal of water and health.

[17]  J. Konz,et al.  Exposure factors handbook , 1989 .