Characteristics of Boron, Calcium, Magnesium and Fluorine in Desalinated Seawater and their Health Effects

The concentration of boron in desalinated seawater was high, and the level of calcium, magnesium and fluorine was very low; long-term consumption of high boron water might induce adverse effects, and the consumption of low calcium, magnesium and fluorine in water was harmful to the body. Literatures on domestic and international water quality standards and their development trend were reviewed in this paper to explore important indexes for the quality of desalinated seawater and its health effects. We suggested setting the upper limit concentration of boron in desalinated seawater at 2.4 mg/L, and setting the range of calcium, magnesium and fluorine in desalinated seawater at 10 to 30, 20 to 50 and 0.5 to 1.0 mg/L, respectively. The quality characteristics and standards for desalinated seawater need further exploration, which should be validated by a large number of epidemiological and experimental studies to keep a steady development of seawater desalination industry in China.