A risk assessment of uranium in drinking water

Naturally occurring uranium is known to give rise to adverse renal effects in various species after ingestion. This short review of uranium toxicity focus on three epidemiological studies on drinking water which are compared with a pivotal study in experimental animals used as a basis for limits of uranium in drinking water or guidelines in several countries. These studies are scrutinized and discussed, and it is suggested that authorities in this particular case to a higher extent should make use of epidemiological data in their evalutation. Finally, based on epidemiological data an intervention level for uranium in Swedish drinking water is proposed, namely 15 microgram per litre