In view of the recent controversy on packaged drinking water, the government has reviewed and proposed in the standards for the product, Minister of State for Health A Raja said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

The limit set for the individual and total pesticide residues in packaged drinking water and mineral water was 0.0001 mg/litre and 0.0005 mg/litre respectively, according to the proposed amendment, Raja said.

The analysis would be conducted using internationally established test methods, he said.

The standards of packaged drinking water and mineral water had been reviewed on the advice of Bureau of Indian Standards, he said.

An independent study by Centre for Science and Environment had found that samples of drinking water and mineral water contained pesticide residues. The difference was stated to be due to the difference in the test method adopted, Raja said.