The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water

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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


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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


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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.


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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,


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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.


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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


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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.


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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.


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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


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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.


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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


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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


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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.


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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).


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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


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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)

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The Determination of Heavy Metals in Tap Water

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