the determination of heavy metals in tap water
TRANSCRIPT
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
1/24
THE DETERMINATION OF HEAVY METALS IN TAP WATER BY
USING ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY (AAS)
NOR HASBIYANA ABD WAHAB
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE ( Hons. )
CHEMISTRY
FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY TEKNOLOGY MARA
NOVEMBER 2008
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
2/24
THE DETERMINATION OF HEAVY METALS IN TAP WATER BY
USING ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY (AAS)
NOR HASBIYANA ABD WAHAB
Final Year Project Report Submitted in
Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Bachelor of Science (Hons.) Chemistry
In the Faculty of Applied Sciences
Universiti Technology MARA
NOVEMBER 2008
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
3/24
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Upon completion of this project, I would like to express my gratitude to many parties.
My heartfelt thanks goes to my supervisor, Hajjah Mashiah Domat Shaharudin for her
spending time, advice and guidance throughout the work involved to complete this project.
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
4/24
iii
I would like to express my gratitude also to my co supervisor, Nesamalar Kantasamy for
opinion and knowledge shared. Thank you for S. Mariam Sumari, lecturer of environment
pollution control as a second examiner for spending time marked and corrected my final
report project and also critics and suggestions to complete this report. Thank also for all of
the laboratory staffs for helped me during running this project and to my friends who had
helped me directly or indirectly during this project work. My special thanks from the
bottom of my heart goes to my parents, brothers and sisters for their understanding,
encouragement, moral and financial support and emphasis on the value of education. Not
forgetting my thanks goes to the head of programme, Assoc Prof Badariah Abu Bakar for
advice and motivation. Lastly, I would like to thank those who had contributed either
directly or indirectly for completion this study.
Nor Hasbiyana Abd Wahab
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
5/24
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
LIST OF TABLES vLIST OF FIGURES viLIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS vii
ABSTRAK viiiABSTRACT ix
CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION1.1 Background 11.2 Significance of study 51.3 Objectives of study 5
CHAPTER 2 : LITERATURE REVIEW2.1 Introduction 72.2 The study of heavy metals 7
CHAPTER 3 : METHODOLOGY
3.1 Background 123.2 Site Sampling 123.3 Materials 14
3.3.1 Sample 143.3.2 Chemicals 143.3.3 Apparatus 143.3.4 Instrument 14
3.4 Methods 153.4.1 Sample Collection 153.4.2 Sample Preparation 153.4.3 Sample Analysis 16
CHAPTER 4 : RESULT AND DISCUSSION 174.1 Determination safety level of samples 17
4.2 Determination of the most and the least concentrated heavy metal 194.3 Determination of site sampling affect the concentration of heavy metals 21
CHAPTER 5 : CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 24
CITED REFERENCES 26
APPENDICES 28CURRICULUM VITAE 33
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
6/24
v
LIST OF TABLES
Table Caption Page
3.41 The list ofsample collected according to the site sampling 28
3.42 The concentration of standard solution and its detection limit 29
4.13 The range concentration of heavy metals in the samples 18
4.14 The parameter according to MNDWQS 18
4.15 The parameter MCL for public drinking water supply by US EPA 18
4.31 The comparison between types of site sampling with elements 21
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
7/24
vi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
3.20 Map of Shah Alam and sampling location 13
4.11 Standard calibration curve of standard solution 30
4.12 Graph of concentration heavy metals in samples plotted 31
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
8/24
vii
LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
AAS : Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
FAAS : Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
AES : Atomic Emission Spectroscopy
MIP AES : Microwave-induced plasma atomic emission spectroscopy
ICP OES : Inductively Coupled Plasma
MCL : Maximum Concentration Level
US EPA : United State Environment Protection Agency
MNDWQS : Malaysian National Drinking Water Quality Standards
EWG : Environment Working Group
WHO : World Health Organization
Cd : Cadmium
Pb : Lead
Cu : Copper
Hg : Mercury
As : Arsenic
Al : Aluminium
Zn : Zinc
Fe : Iron
Co : Cobalt
Mn : Mangan
Ni : Nickel
L : liter
km : kilometer
ml : milliliter
HNO3 : Nitric Acid
WHO : World Health Organization
RO : Reverse Osmosis
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
9/24
viii
ABSTRACT
THE DETERMINATION OF HEAVY METALS IN TAP WATER SAMPLE BY
USING AAS
Tap water that becomes the main source of water that is used by people should be
evaluated for the safety level whether it is free from the contamination of bacteria or heavymetals. Most of the studies that have been done that use tap water samples showed that
heavy metals really exist in tap water samples. This study focuses on tap water because it iswidely used and it became the basic need for human being. The evaluation of the safety
level of tap water is very important. Hence, this study is done to achieve a few objectives ,that are to determine the concentration of heavy metals in tap water samples whether they
are safe or not according to the parameter and standard of water quality for heavy metalsby MNDWQS and US EPA. So as to determine the concentration of each element in order
to identify which is the most concentrated and vice versa. This study also compares thelevel of heavy metals concentration according to the types of site sampling from industrial,
agricultural and housing areas. By using AAS, the result of this study showed that most ofthe samples contain heavy metals. This study has achieved all of the objectives whereby the
results of this study showed that the levels of most of heavy metals concentration exceedthe limit for level of the water quality. This study also proves that the location of water
might influenced the concentration of heavy metals in tap water sample.
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
10/24
ix
ABSTRAK
PENENTUAN LOGAMLOGAM BERAT DALAM SAMPEL AIR PAIP DENGAN
MENGGUNAKAN AAS
Air paip yang menjadi sumber utama kegunaan air bagi manusia perlu di nilai tahapkeselamatan penggunaan sama ada telah bebas daripada kandungan bacteria mahupun
logam-logam berat. Banyak kajian yang telah di jalankan yang menggunakan sample airmendapati logam berat memang wujud dalam sampel air. Kajian ini menggunakan air paip
sebagai sampel kerana ia digunakan secara meluas dan ia merupakan keperluan asas bagimanusia. Penilaian tahap kandungan logam berat yang selamat dalam sampel air paip ini
amat penting . Justeru, kajian ini di jalankan untuk mencapai beberapa objektif iaitu untukmendapatkan tahap kandungan logam berat dalam sampel air paip bagi memastikan
keselamatan penggunaan air paip tersebut sama ada selamat atau tidak berdasarkanparameter dan penyelarasan kualiti air untuk logam berat oleh MNDWQS dan US EPA, di
samping itu menilai kandungan setiap elemen logam berat tersebut untuk menentukan yangmana paling banyak dan sebaliknya. Kajian ini juga ingin membandingkan tahap
kandungan logam berat berdasarkan jenis tapak lokasi untuk mengambil sampel-sampeltersebut iaitu kawasan industri, pertanian dan perumahan. Dengan menggunakan AAS,
hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa logam berat ini memang terdapat dalam hampirkeseluruhan sampel air tersebut. Kajian ini telah mencapai kesemua objektif yang ingin
dicapai di mana kajian mendapati hampir semua kandungan logam berat melebihi tahapnilai kualiti air yang telah di gariskan. Kajian ini juga menunjukkan bahawa jenis lokasi
untuk pengambilan sampel air ini mungkin mempengaruhi kadar kandungan logam beratdalam sampel air paip.
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
11/24
1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background and problem statement
Water is the basic needs for living organisms in the world. People consume water
daily to drink, bath, prepare food and others. Water sourced from rivers will be
treated first before people can consume it via the tap water.
In water treatment process, there are few steps involve to ensure water cleanliness.
The first step includes is flocculation process which combines small particles into
larger particles. Then, the water will be filtered to remove all particles from it. After
that, water undergoes ion exchange process to remove any inorganic contaminants.
Then, adsorption of water in which to remove organic contaminants, unwanted
coloring and taste-and-color causing compound take place. Lastly, chlorination
process is carried out to disinfect the water.
Some people are not confident with the safety of consuming tap water. Although
the water seems clean, they will not use tap water as the main source of drinking
water. Instead they will buy filtered water or reverse osmosis water as the source of
drinking water.
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
12/24
2
Tap water might be contaminated with heavy metals. In the water treatment field,
heavy metals refer to the heavy dense and metallic elements that could be found
only at the trace levels in water. Nonetheless, these constituents are very toxic and
tend to accumulate in the body in a long period of time.
Heavy metals such as Pb, Cd and mercury are micro-pollutants and of special
interest as they have both health and environmental significance due to their
persistence, high toxicity and bio-accumulation characteristics. The followings are
some common heavy metals found in water:
i) Cu: Water turns blue-green in color as the corroded Cu inside of the pipes andmix together with the water as a precipitate. Cu in a very high quantity is toxic
and may cause vomiting, diarrhea and loss of strength. In a long term, the
toxicity can cause liver damage, kidney failure and ultimately death while the
short term effect is gastrointestinal distress.
ii) Pb: Pb is very toxic and common heavy metals. It gets into the water from thecorrosion of plumbing materials. Sources including paint, mining wasters,
incinerator ash, automobile exhaust, water from Pb pipes and solder that are
used to join Cu pipes, in fittings and faucets are made from brass. Intake of Pb
causes delay in physical or mental development for infants and children.
Whereby for adults, it may cause damage to kidneys, brain, and nervous system,
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
13/24
3
learning and synthesizing protein, nerves, red blood cells ability, cancer,
hypertension and hyperactivity.
iii)Cd: Origin includes electroplating, erosion of natural deposition, discharge frommetal and plastic refineries, battery and paint waste, mining as well as sewage.
It occurs mostly in association with zn and gets into the water from the
corrosion of zn-coated galvanized pipes and fittings. It penetrated body via the
food eaten and water drank. Cd can cause kidney disease and injures the renal,
pulmonary, skeletal and testicular. In addition, is been recognized as a
carcinogen. Renal failure tends to be the fatal due to the sensitive nature of the
kidneys if there is a concentration of Cd.
iv)Hg: It is resulted from the leaching of soil due to acid rain, coal burning,residential and mining wastes, discharge from refineries, run off, land fills or
croplands. Hg causes damage to the nervous system, kidneys and vision.
v) As: Enters the environment through herbicides, wood preservatives and miningindustry. As may causes damage to skin, eyes, gastrointestinal tract , and liver.
It may also cause cancer to the human being.
vi) Al: Exist through the leaching of acid deposition. The effect of Al to human
body is it causes anemia and loss of bone strength and contribute to dementia
and Alzheimers disease.
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
14/24
4
There are basically five sources of heavy metals which contribute to the water
pollution that are ores and metals, the use of metal compounds such as chromium
salts in tanneries, Cu compound in agriculture and tetraethyl Pb as an anti-knock
agent in gasoline, leaching of heavy metals from domestic wastes and solid waste
dumps and heavy metals in human and animal excretions, particularly Zn.
Actually, the evaluation of heavy metals pollution in water is crucial. Although
heavy metals are natural components in the environment, we have to consider them
as the potentially toxic materials. Heavy metals concentration has increased in the
air, soil and waters, especially in big cities and industrial areas. The main source of
water is the tap water. We have to identify how clean the tap water from the heavy
metals before we consume it.
Tap water conditioners are developing over recent years as technology has allowed
new formulations to be created, with most improvements being led by the
increasing challenges set by the variable quality of tap water over the years.
Adopted from the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 that the
target by 2015 is to reduce by half the proportion of people who are do not have
access to safe sanitation facilities unable to reach, or to afford, safe drinking water.
An Environmental Working Group analysis of tap water test from 1998 through
2003 for more than 39000 communities nationwide shows that 260 pollutants were
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
15/24
5
detected in the nations drinking water. The contaminants detected come from
Agricultural pollutants, Sprawl, and Urban pollutants, Industrial pollutants, water
treatment and distribution by products and others.
Health effects of contaminants found are cardiovascular of blood toxicity, cancer,
developmental toxicity, endocrine toxicity, immunotoxicity, kidney toxicity,
gastrointestinal or liver toxicity, musculoskeletal toxicity, neurotoxicity,
reproductive toxicity, respiratory toxicity and skin sensitivity.
In my study, I focuses on to determine the concentration of heavy metals in tap
water and compared with safety level, besides the determination of most
concentrated and least concentrated heavy metal in tap water and also comparing
the concentration of tap water according to different location samples taken.
1.2 Significance of study
The fact above shows that the presence of heavy metals in human body can affect
health for a long period of time. It is important to know the concentration of heavy
metals in tap metal because it is the main source of water that people consume
everyday.
1.3 Objectives of study
1.3.1 The intention of this research is to determine the level of heavy metals in tap water
in order to study the safety level of using tap water in Shah Alam.
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
16/24
6
1.3.2 The specific objectives of the study are to:-
1. Determine the concentration of Cu, Cd and Pb in tap water in order toidentify the most concentrated heavy metal and the least concentrated heavy
metal.
2. Comparing the concentration of Cu, Cd and Pb in tap water samples fromthe location of industrial, agricultural and residential areas in Shah Alam ,
whether the type location influenced the concentration of heavy metals in
tap water as well as the water safety level according to the parameters
according to Malaysian National Drinking Water Quality Standard and also
parameters of Maximum Concentration Level for drinking water supply by
United State Environment Protection Agency.
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
17/24
7
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 IntroductionThe study of heavy metals contamination in water sample has been done by many
researchers. It involves a few types of water like water from the river, sea, tap
water, lake, dam and others. Most of the results have shown that heavy metals exist
in these samples of water but the concentrations of their contamination are different
and some of the results do not detect the existence of heavy metals in water
samples.
2.2 The Study of Heavy MetalsMimoza Milovanovic, (2007) cited that the determination of pollution sources along
the Axios / Vardar River in Europe showed that Cd, Cr, Zn, and Pb were present in
the river sample.
The analysis has been done to determine Zn, Cd, Pb and Cu in marine water
(Bruce, 2004). From the analysis, it can be concluded that toxic concentrations of
trace metals interfere with the normal metabolic process of fish and other species of
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
18/24
8
life in the marine environment and these metals can be passed into human who
consume them and pose adverse effects on the human metabolic process.
Ohmichi et al. (2006) stated, the measurement of heavy metal levels in river near
the Watarase River and in soil around them and also follow-up investigations on the
condition of pollution in the Watarase River 1991 has been done. The result of this
study concluded that the environment around the Watarase River has been steadily
improved so that the safety in that environment is assured. So, the current status of
the Ashio area provided better conditions than in the past.
The study about the determination total content of Cd, Cu, Pb, Fe, Ni and Co in tap
water sample has been done by Farghaly (2003). The result of the study indicate
that metal ion concentrations values in tap water at Assiut City was below the
recent proposed criteria for water quality and below safety baseline levels of the
World, European, American Chemical Standards and the Egyptian Chemical
Standard of Ministry of Health. It could be concluded that no effect was observed
on Cd concentration and a small effect was observed (approximation 15%) for Zn,
Pb and Cu ion concentrations.
Szoke E. (2005) stated in his research on the heavy metal pollution of some cave
waters of the Karsts of Aggtelek from 2000 until 2005 that the contents of metallic
contents in the cave waters is higher than what is expected.
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
19/24
9
Mustafa et al. (2006) cited on his study about the determination of trace amounts of
Cr (III), Fe (III), Pb (II) and Mg (II) that the good result was obtained where
relative standard deviations less than 10% and recoveries were more than 95%.
The study on the determination of organic pollutants and heavy metals in sediments
and water samples associated with the petrochemical complex in La Plata district
Argentina had been done (Labunska et la. 2000). The result has shown that the area
was still contaminated with the petroleum products and several heavy metals like
Cu, Pb, Hg and Zn had been detected in the sediment samples above the
background levels.
The research about multi element determination of heavy metals in water samples
by continuous powder introduction MIP AES after preconcentration on activated
carbon had been done by Krzysztof et al ., (2004). From the study, it could be
concluded that the analytical potential of the proposed CPI-MIP-AES method was
higher owing to high enrichment factors available. The preconcentration of the
metals studied on activated carbon Pb not only to high enrichment factors but also
eliminates matrix interferences caused by alkali and alkaline earths elements
present in the natural water samples.
Open-focused microwave-assisted extraction and ICP-OES determination of As,
Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn from surface sediments of the estuary of Bilbao
(Basque Country, North of Spain) was carried out by Landajo et al. (2004). The
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
20/24
10
result concluded that the two main patterns observed were a steady increment of the
metal concentration along all the campaigns in the samples collected in the Galindo
River and a seasonal variation in the Nerbioi-Ibaizabal River, with higher metallic
content during summer time and lower content during winter time.
Zhouet al. (2007) stated that the determination concentration of Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb
in Dabaoshan Mine, Guangdong Province, China has been done. From the study, it
showed that the present of Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb can cause environment pollution.
The applicability of 2, 2-bipyridyl and erythrosine co-precipitation method for the
separation and preconcentration of some heavy metals such as Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb,
and Zn in actual samples for their determination by ICP-OES and FAAS was
studied by Barbara (2007). From the study, it could be concluded that introductory
group concentration of the analytes allow for one order reduction of limit of
detection of these metals using both techniques. Recovery percentages of the
analytes amount are more than 90%. The results of determination of the analytes
studied, after their prior concentration, which is obtained by ICP-OES technique are
comparable with the ones obtained using FAAS technique. It is advisable to prepare
standard solution for calibration curve in both techniques in the same way as the
samples. It allows eliminating the effect of the reagent matrix.
Industrial chemicals in tap water involves the observation of EWG's analysis of
water supplier's tap water test results which shows that water contaminated with
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
21/24
11
166 industrial pollutants, including plasticizers, solvents, and propellants, are served
to 210,528,000 people in 42 states. 56% of those people were served with water
consist of one or more industrial contaminants present at levels above non-
enforceable, health-based limits. 94 of the industrial chemicals detected in tap water
are unregulated, without a legal, health-based limit in tap water.
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
22/24
12
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
3.1 BackgroundThe study was implemented in Shah Alam which is the main city in Selangor with
the width of 290.3 km from north to south. Shah Alam was chosen as the location
of this study. Shah Alam consists of all three types of areas used for sampling that
are industrial, residential and agricultural areas.
3.2 Site SamplingAll of the samples were collected from 3 sites for each area.
For industrial areas: the tap water sample was taken from plants which use chemical
to execute their process, such as fertilizer at Padang Jawa,
synthetic organic at i-city and also production of drink
container plants at Seksyen 7.
For residential areas: the tap water sample was taken from houses at Seksyen 7,
Seksyen 4 and Seksyen 17 (terrace and flat house).
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
23/24
13
For agricultural areas: the tap water sample was taken from Agricultural park at
Seksyen 8 ( Bukit Cerakah ) and also the natural garden at
Seksyen 4 ( Taman Perhutanan ).
Figure 3.2 Map of Shah Alam and Sampling Location
-
8/13/2019 The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water
24/24
3.3 Materials
3.3.1 Sample
Samples were taken from 3 different areas which are industrial, agricultural and also
residential area.
3.3.2 Chemicalsa) Nitric Acid
b) Tap water sample
c) Standard solution of Cd, Pb and Cu
3.3.3 Apparatus
a) 1L clean polyethylene bottles that had been washed with deionize water before
sample collection
b) Label of the bottle for identification
c) Micropipette / pipette to prepare accurate concentration of standard solution
d) Volumetric flask 100 ml
e) Small beaker
3.3.4 Instrument
a) Perkin Elmer Analyst 400 Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
(FAAS)