Hydrogeochemical approach to estimate the quality of bottled waters in Serbia

Abstract

Bottled waters were analyzed for different chemical parameters and activity concentrations of radionuclides. The hydrocarbonate ion was dominant in all samples, while the major cation composition was a combination of Ca-Mg-Na ions. Physicochemical properties of bottled water samples are influenced by underlying geology. The sum of trace element concentrations varied from 79.7 to 9349.7 μg/l. The Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) system was applied and contributions of some essential elements were calculated according to age group and gender. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) grouped bottled water samples into four clusters based on the similarities of the groundwater quality and essential elements concentrations. The origin of radioactivity is natural and could be traced to minerals in felsic igneous rocks. Two brands exhibited elevated beta activity (1.087±0.134 Bq/l; 1.242±0.146 Bq/l). Effective doses were found to be below the reference level of 0.1 mSv/yr. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III 43004]

Keywords

• bottled water
• dietary reference intake
• essential elements
• natural radioactivity
• hierarchical cluster analysis
• Serbia
• water quality