Mandatory requirements and methodological approaches to conducting sanitary and epidemiological expertise of natural mineral waters

Introduction. According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, the exploitation of water bodies — sources of natural mineral drinking waters — for medicinal and recreational purposes, as well as the release and sale of packaged natural mineral waters should be carried out on the basis of sanitary and epidemiological expertise confirming the safety of these waters for human health.

The purpose of the work is to develop methodological approaches and recommendations for conducting sanitary and epidemiological expertise of natural mineral waters for their therapeutic and preventive use in natural form in sanatorium-resort conditions and in packaged form for sale to the population.

Materials and methods. The work is based on the analysis of the results of research, surveys, sanitary-epidemiological, special medical (balneological) examinations of the quality, safety, and medicinal properties of mineral drinking waters of the Volga-Ural and West Siberian regions, performed in the Department of resort resources of the Yekaterinburg Medical Research Center for Prophylaxis and Health Protection in Industrial Workers, as well as the analysis of legislative and other regulatory requirements for the problem under consideration.

Results. In accordance with the EAEU TR 044/2017 and other technical regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union, sanitary and environmental legislation of the Russian Federation, methodological approaches and recommendations have been developed for conducting sanitary and epidemiological expertise of natural mineral waters.

Limitations. None.

Conclusion. The developed scientific and methodological approaches and recommendations make it possible to conduct a sanitary and epidemiological examination of natural mineral waters for their use in sanatorium conditions and in packaged form for sale to the population.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study does not require a conclusion from the biomedical ethics committee.

Contribution:
Kurochkin V.Yu. – concept and design of research, writing an article;
Sutunkova M.P. – organization of research, text editing;
Khoroshavina E.I. – collecting, processing and analyzing materials, writing and editing text;
Bolshedvorova P.A. – collection, processing of materials, text editing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study was conducted as part of the fulfillment of the state assignment to the Yekaterinburg Medical Research Center for Prophylaxis and Health Protection in Industrial Workers.

Received: May 13, 2026 / Accepted: June 18, 2026 / Published: July 31, 2026

1. Kurochkin V.Yu., Khoroshavina E.I., Peshekhonov D.A. Quality control of bottled natural mineral waters. Gigiena i Sanitaria (Hygiene and Sanitation, Russian journal). 2022; 101(12): 1568–74. https://doi.org/10.47470/0016-9900-2022-101-12-1568-1574 https://elibrary.ru/ntbzlu (in Russian)

2. Kurochkin V.Yu., Khoroshavina E.I., Peshekhonov D.A. Packaged mineral waters of Russia, their quality and safety control. In: Materials of the All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference with International Participation «Interaction of Science and Practice. Experience and Prospects», Dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of the Establishment of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Service of Russia [Materialy Vserossiiskoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem «Vzaimodeistvie nauki i praktiki. Opyt i perspektivy», posvyashchennoi 100-letiyu so dnya obrazovaniya gosudarstvennoi sanitarno-epidemiologicheskoi sluzhby Rossii]. Ekaterinburg; 2022: 74–81. https://elibrary.ru/gnubpt (in Russian)

3. Mitin S.G., Sysoev G.V., Oganesyants L.A., Sevostyanova E.M. Packaged water production. status, problems and solutions. Pivo i napitki. 2020; (4): 29–32. https://elibrary.ru/hkueko (in Russian)

4. Kurenkova G.V., Verkhoturova N.A. Sanitary and Epidemiological Expertise of an Object, Product, Type of Activity, and Working Conditions [Sanitarno-epidemiologicheskaya ekspertiza ob’’ekta, produktsii, vida deyatel’nosti, uslovii organizatsii raboty]. Irkutsk; 2021. (in Russian)

5. Yeremin G.B., Gyulmamedov E.Y., Nikonow V.A., Mozzhukhina N.A. The theoretical aspects of the sanitary-epidemiology expertise. Menedzher zdravookhraneniya. 2013; (3): 42–6. https://elibrary.ru/pxjbbf (in Russian)

6. Gurvich V.B., Kurochkin V.Yu., Khoroshavina E.I. Approaches to determining the safe volume of consumption of mineral drinking water. Voprosy kurortologii, fizioterapii i lechebnoi fizicheskoi kul’tury. 2022; 99(3–2): 70. https://elibrary.ru/vbncjs (in Russian)

7. Sevostyanova E.M., Khorosheva E.V., Remneva G.A. Studying the stability of biologically active components of packaged mineral waters during storage. Pishchevaya promyshlennost’. 2020; (7): 19–22. https://elibrary.ru/rzzjbp (in Russian)

8. Sevostyanova E.M., Khorosheva E.V., Remneva G.A. Rationale for shelf life and storage temperature conditions of different groups of mineral waters. Pivo i napitki. 2016; (3): 46–9. https://elibrary.ru/wfkcpz (in Russian)

9. Sevostyanova E.M., Khorosheva E.V., Remneva G.A. Mineral water. Confirmation of the expiry date of the opened container. Pivo i napitki. 2015; (4): 52–4. https://elibrary.ru/unfewz (in Russian)

10. Khomich L.M., Novikov M.N. Problems of regulating the production and labeling of consumer packaging of drinking mineral water and ways to solve them. Voprosy kurortologii, fizioterapii i lechebnoi fizicheskoi kul’tury. 2021; 98(3-2): 205–6. https://elibrary.ru/hyrlvq (in Russian)

11. Kurochkin V.Yu., Zhernakova Z.M., Volkova N.A., Deeva N.N., Fedorov A.A. Criteria for Operational Quality Control of Bottled Mineral Drinking Waters. Informational and Methodical Letter [Kriterii operativnogo kontrolya kachestva butilirovannykh mineral’nykh pit’evykh vod.Informatsionno-metodicheskoe pis’mo]. Ekaterinburg; 2012. https://elibrary.ru/thkjat (in Russian)

12. Kurochkin V.Yu., Khoroshavina E.I., Fedorov A.A. Method of operational quality control and identification of packaged mineral drinking waters. Voprosy kurortologii, fizioterapii i lechebnoi fizicheskoi kul’tury. 2021; 98(3–2): 113–4. https://elibrary.ru/poywsj (in Russian)

13. Sevostyanova E.M., Shilkin A.A., Semipyatny V.K. Study of the chemical composition and isotope characteristics of the groundwater of the Essentuki deposit. Pishchevaya promyshlennost’. 2022; (9): 92–6. https://doi.org/10.52653/PPI.2022.9.9.018 https://elibrary.ru/nxwbfl (in Russian)

14. Maleeva T.L., Novikova N.V., Goncharova Yu.M. Problems of product identification – mineral water. Vestnik Smolenskoi gosudarstvennoi meditsinskoi akademii. 2022; 21(4): 244–52. https://doi.org/10.37903/vsgma.2022.4.34 https://elibrary.ru/zqyqkq (in Russian)

15. Sevostyanova E.M., Kuzmina E.I., Sviridov D.A., Shilkin A.A., Ganin M.Yu. The influence of water treatment methods assessment on packaged waters isotopic characteristics. Pivo i napitki. 2020; (2): 20–3. https://elibrary.ru/dfckyl (in Russian)