Geochemical Assessment of The Trace Elements in Selected Bottled Water from Baghdad City-Iraq; Environmental Impact Approach

Abstract

Twenty seven samples of drinking bottled water are commercially available in Baghdad Capital City –Iraq, were collected from local markets to investigate the levels of 17 trace elements (As, B, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Co, Fe, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, U, V and Zn)  for the confidence building of the consumers. Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) technique was used for the analysis of trace elements in the bottled water samples. The estimated trace elements are ranked as B> Fe >Ba> As, Se > Zn> Cr> V> Mo> Cu> Ni> Pb> Hg> Mn> Cd, Co> U.  The results of this study were compared for the suitability for human consumption within the acceptable levels of World Health Organization (WHO,2008) and Iraqi Standards (IQS 2009) guidelines for drinking water. The mean concentrations of the trace elements in the tested water samples obtained in this study were fall within the level values in the guidelines/directives of WHO / IQS  indicating the potability of the bottled waters and hence, could be consumed without any possible health problems.

Keywords: Geochemical assessment, Bottled water, trace elements, WHO standards, ICP-MS, Water quality