LAUSR

Water from a single natural spring filled in PET has been used to examine the sterilization effect of Gamma and E-Beam irradiation on the chemical and microbial quality of water through 6 months of storage under real consumer conditions. Two strategies were adapted in this work; the first was the sterilization of PET empty bottles at 20 kGy dose which were then filled by UV sterilized water. The second was the sterilization of the PET bottled water at the recommended microbial decontamination dose of 5 kGy. Dibutyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, and dimethyl phthalate concentrations increased significantly during storage under sunlight exposure in comparison with a dark laboratory storage. Nitrite was only presented in PET bottled water that was sterilized by Gamma irradiation and stored in the dark. 5 kGy dose could be considered good for microbial sterilization of PET bottled water and has less impact on leaching of phthalates compounds than 20 kGy dose. Moreover, it could be an emergent method for water decontamination at an industrial level and consequently improve the public health.