Variation of 66 elements in European bottled mineral waters

Fifty-six bottled mineral waters bought at random all over Europe were analysed for 66 chemical elements by ICP-AES, ICP-MS and IC-techniques. Results show that there is a wide spread in the chemical composition of mineral waters. The EEC drinking water safeguard values for chemical constituents do...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Science of the total environment 1999-12, Vol.243, p.21-41
Main Authors: Misund, Arve, Frengstad, Bjørn, Siewers, Ulrich, Reimann, Clemens
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action level
Chromatography, Ion Exchange
Drinking water
Europe
Glass
Health
Humans
ICP-MS
MAC
Mass Spectrometry
Mineral water
Mineral Waters - analysis
Mineral Waters - standards
Plastics
Spectrophotometry, Atomic
Trace elements
Trace Elements - analysis
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Summary:Fifty-six bottled mineral waters bought at random all over Europe were analysed for 66 chemical elements by ICP-AES, ICP-MS and IC-techniques. Results show that there is a wide spread in the chemical composition of mineral waters. The EEC drinking water safeguard values for chemical constituents do not apply to mineral water, although mineral water is increasingly used for general drinking water purposes. Only 15 of the randomly selected 56 mineral waters would fulfil the drinking water regulations for all parameters where action levels are defined. Differences in chemical composition observed between countries or regions are due to geological environment and to different taste or local regulations of what is mineral water. There are indications that element concentrations for some unwanted constituents (e.g. Pb) are higher in waters sold in glass bottles than in those in plastic bottles. Some elements show a clear regional dependency. Studying the large natural variation in concentration for many of the 66 studied elements it becomes clear that we know little about the natural variation of element concentration in water and the health effects of most elements in drinking water.
ISSN:0048-9697
1879-1026
DOI:10.1016/S0048-9697(99)00307-1