Occurrence of Heavy Metals and Their Health Risk Assessment in Mineral and Drinking Bottled Water of Tehran, Iran

Bottled waters are becoming increasingly popular worldwide. Several potentially harmful trace metals may present in bottled water. The current study investigated the concentrations of heavy metals (Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Hg, Ni, Pb, As and B) in mineral and drinking bottled water in Tehran, Iran. In addition, the study aimed to ascertain potential health risk of heavy metals concentrations to local population. In this study 96 samples of mineral and drinking bottled water from 12 brands were randomly purchased from major market of Tehran, Iran during October to December 2015. Heavy metals concentrations were quantified by using atomic absorption spectrophotometer and were compared with permissible limits set by Iranian national standard and World Health Organization (WHO). The parameters including pH, nitrate (NO 3 ) and sulphate (SO 4 ), Chloride (Cl - ) were determined in samples. In addition, to estimate the consumers’ health risk, the chronic daily intake (CDI) indices and hazard quotient (HQ) indices were calculated. The mean concentrations of heavy metals in all brands analyzed were found within the permissible limits set by WHO. Nevertheless, the concentrations of Ba, Ni and Pb exceeded respective permissible limits in two samples of mineral water, and also one sample of drinking water contained Pb level higher than WHO permissible levels. The health risk assessments like HQ indices showed that all the samples analyzed drinking are safe for human consumption. It is recommended to adopt adequate measure such as regular and strict monitoring to better control the heavy metals concentration in bottled water.