Five national reference laboratories for drinking water and bathing waters — in Białystok, Kraków, Poznań, Warsaw and Olsztyn
By a regulation of 27 May 2026 (Journal of Laws 2026 item 707) Poland’s Minister of Health designated laboratories of voivodeship sanitary and epidemiological stations as national reference laboratories for testing the quality of water intended for human consumption and of bathing water. The regulation enters into force on 1 January 2027, and the laboratories are to perform the tasks set out in the act from 1 January 2028.
- Drinking water: Białystok — microbiological testing, Kraków — radioactivity, Poznań — physico-chemical and sensory testing (excluding pesticide residues), Warsaw — pesticide residues. Bathing water: the Environmental and Food Testing Laboratory of the voivodeship station in Olsztyn.
- The act of 13 March 2026 (Journal of Laws 2026 item 605) gives reference laboratories tasks including training in new methods and procedures and in their verification or validation, the option of organising national proficiency testing to PN-EN ISO/IEC 17043 and interlaboratory comparisons, taking part in proficiency tests, research on new parameters with the development of methods, and cooperation with bodies such as the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.
- A reference laboratory must hold PCA accreditation to PN-EN ISO/IEC 17025 for the methods for which it acts. It may resolve discrepancies in results of drinking water compliance monitoring and bathing water testing — the costs are then borne by the party contesting the results.
- Reference laboratories also confirm the equivalence of alternative methods with reference methods (assessment to PN-EN ISO 17994 or the PN-EN ISO 16140 series, tests in accredited national laboratories) before the Chief Sanitary Inspector submits a request for recognition to the European Commission; until the end of 2027 this task is carried out by the National Institute of Public Health NIH – National Research Institute.