High Levels of Arsenic in Spring Water

Certain brands of spring water were discovered to contain more arsenic and fluorine than the recommended criteria. A report, which the Ministry of Environment(MOE), submitted to the National Assembly for the national audit of government operations, said that 13 brands failed to receive approval because of high levels of arsenic and fluorine. In 1996 and 1997, 46 and 28 brands of bottled spring water failed to be approved for the same reason.
'Nesorak Beverage' was surveyed to have 0.072ppm of arsenic, followed by 'Kipeunurisemmul' (Our joyful water; 0.07ppm) and 'Sorak Beverage' (0.061ppm). The limit for arsenic is less than 0.05ppm. Arsenic tends to evaporate but it is potentially fatal to the human body when it is contained in water.
Additionally, the brand '88 Seoul Trade' held 2.4ppm of fluorine. Fluorine in high doses can cause a variety of ailments so it is approved to only less than 2.0ppm. There was also far too levels of colon bacteria (a coli) in 'Mokchon Industry' spring water. The total number of spring water companies is 74 and its market scale reached 100 billion won as of October.