Deriving a health-based guidance value for boron to support development of UK Drinking Water Standards

List of abbreviations

TOX/2025/31

Last updated: 04 September 2025

This is a paper for discussion. This does not represent the views of the Committee and should not be cited.

ATSDR

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

BMDL05

BMDL05 is the benchmark dose lower limit (BMDL) associated with a benchmark response (BMR) of 5%.

bw

Body Weight

CAS

Chemical Abstracts Service

COT

Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment

DWI

Drinking Water Inspectorate

EFSA

European Food Safety Authority

GD

Gestation Day

HBGV

Health-based guidance value

LOAEL

Lowest Observed Adverse Effect Level - the lowest dose in a study at which adverse effect(s) are observed.

mg

milligram

MRL

Minimal Risk Level - an estimate of the daily human exposure to a substance that is likely to be without appreciable risk of adverse non-cancer health effects over a specified duration of exposure

NOAEL

No Observed Adverse Effect Level - the highest administered dose at which no adverse effect has been observed.

NTP

National Toxicology Program

PND

Postnatal Day

PoD

Point of Departure

ppm

Parts per million

TDI

Tolerable Daily Intake - an estimate of the amount of a contaminant, expressed on a body weight basis (e.g., mg/kg body weight) that can be ingested over a lifetime without appreciable health risk.

UKHSA

UK Health Security Agency

US EPA

US Environmental Protection Agency

WHO

World Health Organization