Objectives To understand the hygienic status of chemical treatment agents for drinking water.

Methods According to the "Health Safety Evaluation Guideline of Drinking Water Treatment Chemicals Agents" (2001), 33 samples of chemical treatment agents for drinking water were supervised and detected for health safety in 2011.

Results For the 33 samples, qualified samples was 23, with overall pass rate of 69.7%. Among them, the qualified aluminum-based chemical treatment agents was 26, with a pass rate of 65.38%; the qualified iron-based chemical treatment agents was 5, with a pass rate of 80.0%. The sampled indicators of lead and arsenic exceeded the standard limits.

Conclusions The hygienic status of drinking water chemical treatment agents is not optimistic. Health supervision departments should strengthen supervision and monitor the chains of raw material processing, producing, marketing and utilizing to ensure the hygienic quality of such products.