Determination of Bromate in Bottled Drinking Water from Saudi Arabian Markets by HPLC/ICP-MS

Bromate concentrations and pH values in bottled drinking water in Kuwait

The study objectives were to assess bromate concentrations in bottled drinking water sold at retail in Kuwait and assess pH values relationship to bromate concentrations. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019 where 120 bottled water samples were collected from supermarkets across six governorates in Kuwait. Samples represented local brands that used distilled or mineral water as well as imported brands that used mineral water only. The samples were analyzed for bromate concentrations and pH values. The overall mean bromate concentration was 4.02 µg/L (95% CI: 3.35-4.69) with concentration of 4.45 µg/L in locally distilled water significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that in imported mineral water samples (i.e., 1.34 µg/L). The overall bromate percent positive was 41.7% (n = 120) with 35.8% in locally distilled samples, significantly higher than that in imported mineral samples (5.8%). None of the local mineral bottled water samples had detectable bromate. Bromate concentrations in our samples were within the international allowable limits of less than 10 µg bromate/L (except for one local distilled sample that contained 14.9 µg bromate/L). The mean pH value was 7.39 (95% CI: 7.33-7.45). There was no significant relationship between pH values and bromate concentrations in our samples. Our findings proved that local and imported bottled water sold at retail in Kuwait was bromate safe.

Simultaneous Species Analysis of Arsenic, Selenium, Bromine, and Iodine in Bottled Drinking Water and Fruit Juice by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

A method for the simultaneous determination of arsenobetaine, arsenite, arsenate, dimethylarsinic acid, monomethylarsonic acid, selenite, selenate, bromate, bromide, iodate, and iodide in bottled drinking water and fruit juice samples was established by using high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The separation of eleven compounds was performed on an ion exchange chromatography column (Dionex IonPac AS14) with 20 mmol L^-1 (NH₄)₂CO₃ (pH 10) and 50 mmol L^-1 (NH₄)₂CO₃ (pH 10) as a mobile phase. The limits of quantification of the method were 0.17 - 1.2 μg L^-1 for the test compounds in bottled drinking water and 0.34 - 2.4 μg L^-1 in fruit juice. The average recoveries ranged from 85.8 to 102.2%, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) obtained in fortification recovery studies were generally <4.2% for bottled drinking water samples. The average recoveries ranged from 88.1 to 118.0% (except for iodate) for fruit juice sample.

Oral administration of a potassium bromate dosage: Determination and evaluation of accumulated bromate on the liver of male mice

In this work, we developed a simple spectrophotometric strategy for BrO₃^- ions determination as a major water disinfection constituents in the mice's liver tissues by using pararosaniline (PRA). Mice were divided into seven main groups (6 doses): lowest dose KBrO₃ (G₁ 0.01 mg L^-1, G₂ 0.025 mg L^-1 and G₃ 0.1 mg L^-1), highest dose KBrO₃ (G₄ 1 mg L^-1, G₅ 10 mg·L^-1 and G₆ 30 mg L^-1) and control. All these groups maintained a dose-specific feeding for one month, just before the bromate assessment in mice's liver samples. The results revealed that groups of exposure to lower doses of drinking water did not detect the presence of BrO₃^- accumulated in the liver tissue during the study period (1-2 months). While, the BrO₃^- was detected in higher dosages for samples analyzed in first, second, third, fourth and fifth weeks (W₁, W₂, W₃, W₄, and W₅). These results confirmed that the higher BrO₃^- dosages (1, 10, and 30 mg L^-1) were fatal if introduced in drinking water and could accumulate in the liver tissues both for mice and for human. Detection the accuracy of the method for recovery of bromate ions in liver samples (N = 5) was found to be more than 95%. Relative standard deviations (RSDs) were found to be less than 2.0% confirming the reproducibility of the assay technique.

Quality assessment of various bottled waters marketed in Saudi Arabia

This study focuses on the chemical analysis of the available brands of domestic bottled water in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. The distribution of the chemical constituents (major, minor, and trace elements) is determined and compared with the chemical content labeled on the bottles and with drinking water standards of Saudi Arabian, World Health Organization, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The obtained results indicated that except for fluoride and bromate, the concentrations of dissolved salts, soluble cations and anions, nitrate, and trace elements of most bottled waters on sale were within the permissible limits set by standards used. On the other hand, the comparison between determined and reported label values recorded a substantial variation in some parameter values. Results indicated that more than 18 % of the sampled bottled waters exceeded the allowable limits for drinking water. Generated Piper diagrams revealed that the majority of investigated waters were sodium chloride-sulfate type; however, the hydrochemical modeling indicated that all water samples were undersaturated for anhydrite, gypsum, and halite.

Determination of bromate in drinking water by ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Bromate is a byproduct formed as a result of disinfection of bromide-containing source water with ozone or hypochlorite. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has recognized bromate as a possible human carcinogen, thus it is essential to determine in drinking water. Present work highlights a development of sensitive and fast analytical method for bromate determination in drinking water by using ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The quality parameters of the developed method were established, obtaining very low limit of detection (0.01 ng/mL), repeatability and reproducibility have been found to be less than 3% in terms of relative standard deviation when analyzing a bromate standard at 0.05 μg/mL with 0.4 min analysis time. Developed method was applied for the analysis of metropolitan and bottled water from Saudi Arabia; 22 samples have been analyzed. Bromate was detected in the metropolitan water samples (from desalinization source) at concentrations ranging between 3.43 and 75.04 ng/mL and in the bottled water samples at concentrations ranging between 2.07 and 21.90 ng/mL. Moreover, in comparison to established analytical methods such as liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, the proposed method was found to be very sensitive, selective and rapid for the routine analysis of bromate at low level in drinking water.

Sensitive and robotic determination of bromate in sea water and drinking deep-sea water by headspace solid-phase micro extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A robotic method has been established for the determination of bromate in sea water and drinking deep-sea water. Bromate in water was converted into volatile derivative, which was measured with headspace solid-phase micro extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME GC-MS). Derivatization reagent and the HS-SPME parameters (selection of fibre, extraction/derivatization temperature, heating time and; the morality of HCl) were optimized and selected. Under the established conditions, the detection and the quantification limits were 0.016 μg L(-1) and 0.051 μg L(-1), respectively, and the intra- and inter-day relative standard deviation was less than 7% at concentrations of 1.0 and 10.0 μg L(-1). The calibration curve showed good linearity with r(2)=0.9998. The common ions Cl(-), NO(3)(-), SO(4)(2-), HPO(4)(2-), H(2)PO(4)(-), K(+), Na(+), NH(4)(+), Ca(2+), Mg(2+), Ba(2+), Mn(4+), Mn(2+), Fe(3+) and Fe(2+) did not interfere even when present in 1000-fold excess over the active species. The method was successfully applied to the determination of bromate in sea water and drinking deep-sea water.

Ultra trace determination of bromate in mineral water and table salt by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method (LC-MS/MS) was developed in order to determine the bromate in mineral water and table salt. The following optimum conditions for the LC-MS/MS detection were established: derivatization reagent (300 mg/L of 2,6-dimethylaniline), acidity (0.2M HCl), reaction temperature (30 °C) and heating time (20 min). The formed derivative was directly injected in the LC system without extraction or purification procedures. In the established conditions, the method was used to detect bromate in mineral water and table salt. The limit of detection and limit of quantification of bromate in mineral water were 0.02 μg/L and 0.07 μg/L, respectively, and those of table salt were 0.07 μg/kg and 0.23 μg/kg, respectively. The 17 common ions did not interfere even when present in 1,000-fold excess over the bromated ion of 10.0 μg/L. The accuracy was in a range of 92-104% and the assay precision was less than 9% in the table salt. The method was successfully applied to determine bromate in mineral water and table salt.

Bromate pollutant in ozonated bottled Zamzam water from Saudi Arabia determined by LC/ICP-MS

Bromate (BrO(3) (-)) as a human carcinogenic pollutant in bottled drinking Zamzam water from Mecca, Saudi Arabia has been determined using liquid chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LC/ICP-MS). For analysis, samples were injected directly without any further pretreatment, using only 50 μL injection volume. The method showed: 0.5 μg/L detection limit, 1.0 μg/L limit of quantification and 1.0-200.0 μg/L linearity range (r(2) = 0.9998). The relative standard deviation (%RSD) values for reproducibility (interday precision) obtained are at 11 % and 14 % for bromate and bromide at low concentration levels (5, 10 μg/L) and at 4 % for both at high concentration levels (50, 100 μg/L), respectively. The results concluded that the ozonated bottled Zamzam water samples are contaminated with bromate. The concentration is 20 times higher than U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) allowable limit (10 μg/L) for bromate in bottled drinking water. Bottled drinking water brands, disinfected with ozone showed relatively lower levels of bromate as compared with Zamzam water.