Occurrence of Potentially Toxic Elements in Bottled Drinking Water—Carcinogenic and Non-Carcinogenic Risks Assessment in Adults via Ingestion

Abstract

The presence of potentially toxic elements in drinking water can be dangerous for human health because of their bioaccumulation and toxicity, which is a huge concern for many researchers. In the case of bottled water, the exposure to toxic elements is achieved, especially by ingestion, leading to disorders of important functions of the human body. The aim of this study was the detection of some potentially toxic elements, from 50 samples of bottled drinking water, available on the Romanian market. Based on obtained concentrations, an assessment of the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risk was performed. The concentrations of potentially toxic elements analyzed were below the maximum allowable limits, for all contaminants, excluding Pb and Fe. Moreover, the results of total risk via ingestion, showed that 30% of samples had an Hazard Quotient (HQ) < 1, and 70% had an HQ > 1; which implies a potential risk following the consumption of those samples. Concerning total cancer risk, 28% of the samples are in the acceptable level, while 72% of the samples are considered harmful and can lead to a type of cancer after repeated exposure. The study concluded that long term use of bottled water of poor quality may pose a hazard to human health; it is helpful for inhabitants to avoid ingestion of contaminated water.

Estimating human health risks associated with heavy metal exposure from bottled water using Monte Carlo simulation

“…The levels of Pb in this study was lower than the levels reported in the studies of Annibaldi et al (2018) [ 42 ] in Italy, Bakidere et al (2013) [ 39 ] in Turkey, Ristić et al (2011) [ 38 ] in Serbia. Moreover, the Pb levels of our study were consistent with the levels reported in the studies of Ungureanu et al (2018) [ 41 ] in Romania, Hadiani et al (2015) [ 33 ] in Iran, tap water samples in Bakırdere et al (2013) [ 39 ] in Turkey and Ghaderpoori et al (2018) [ 28 ] in Khorramabad city in Iran. However, the Pb levels found in this work were higher than the levels reported by Maxwell et al (2018) [ 30 ] in Nigeria, Zazouli et al (2015) [ 40 ] in Sari city in Iran, Singla et al (2014) in India, Bamuwamye et al (2022) [ 44 ] in Uganda, Eslami et al (2022) [ 29 ], Jafarzadeh et al (2022) [ 37 ] and Maleki and Jari (2021) [ 25 ] in Iran.…”

“…Table 6 displays other similar studies on the HMs in drinking water sources. The mean concentrations of Cr in this study was lower than the range reported by studies of Ungureanu et al (2022) in Romania [ 41 ], Maxwell et al (2018) in Nigeria and Annibaldi et al (2018) [ 42 ] in Italy conducted on the samples of marketed bottled water. However, the concentration range of Cr in this study was higher than the levels reported in the study of Ristić et al (2011) [ 38 ] in Serbia and within the concentration range reported for bottled water samples by Zazouli et al (2015) [ 40 ] in Sari city, Iran; Singla et al (2014) [ 43 ] in India; Bamuwamye et al (2022) [ 44 ] in Uganda.…”

“…Moreover, the Cr levels was also in range with the Cr levels reported for tap water and groundwater supply samples of rural areas of Kurdistan province [ 25 ], Khorram-Abad city [ 28 ], Rafsanjan city [ 29 ] and Saravan county [ 37 ] in Iran. The concentration range of Cd in this work was higher than the range in bottled water samples reported for by the studies conducted in Romania [ 41 ], Italy [ 42 ], Iran (Sari city) [ 40 ], Serbia [ 38 ], and samples taken from other water resources in other regions of Iran such as tap water in Khorramabad city [ 28 ], and groundwater samples Rafsanjan city [ 29 ] and Kurdistan province [ 25 ]. Also, the Cd levels found in this study were within the concentration range reported in the study of Hadiani et al (2015) [ 33 ] on bottled water but lower than the levels reported for bottled water samples in the studies of Maxwell el al (2018) [ 30 ] in Nigeria, Fakhri et al (2015) [ 45 ] and Jafarzadeh et al (2022) in Saravan county [ 37 ] in Bandar Abbas city and Saravan county in Iran, respectively.…”

“… Country Studied water source Brands Sample count Heavy metal Concentration range (μg/L) Ref. Cr Cd Pb Ni As Iran (this study) Bottled water (tap) 11 33 5–34 1.5–2.5 1–7 2–29 0–3.5 – Romania (2022) Bottled water (mineral) 50 50 <0.10–4.02 <0.09–<0.09 <0.07–6.0 0.16–3.77 – [ 41 ] Nigeria (2018) Bottled water, 20 N/A ND <LOD – 72.1 <LOD – 348.1 <LOD – 12.4 – [ 30 ] Italy (2018) Spring, mineral, tap water N/A 46 – 0.0008–0.0024 0.006–0.104 – – [ 42 ] Iran (2015) Bottled water (mineral & tap) 42 128 – 0.6–1.5 3–7.6 – 3.1–526.6 [ 33 ] Sari, Iran (2015) …”