Overview
John and colleagues analysed 21 of the most consumed bottled water brands in South Africa for 39 elements by ICP-MS, plus physicochemical parameters, and estimated health risks. Results are pooled across brands as maximum, minimum, mean and SD in mg/L (Table 3). The set includes flavoured sparkling water samples, but these are not reported separately.
Key numbers
- Lead: maximum 0.0004 ± 0.0002 mg/L, mean 2.88E-05 mg/L; detected in 9.52% of samples (Table 3, p. 9; text p. 10).
- Cadmium mean 2.86E-06 mg/L (maximum 3.50E-05); arsenic mean 0.0002 mg/L (maximum 0.0009); mercury mean 2.52E-05 mg/L (maximum 0.0005) (Table 3, p. 9).
- Aluminium maximum 0.2442 mg/L and manganese maximum 0.1569 mg/L exceed the South African target range (Table 3, p. 9).
Methods (brief)
Samples refrigerated and analysed within September 2023 by ICP-MS (KED mode, semi-quantitative with rhodium and bismuth internal standards). Detection limits 0.5 to 5.0 ng/L. No reference material or recovery reported.
Evidence Fitness
Bottled water is a proxy for flavored-carbonated-bottled-waters: only pooled statistics are given, and flavoured samples cannot be separated, so the thin page is not linked. Summary statistics for iron and antimony are internally inconsistent, and the semi-quantitative mode limits accuracy. Results are per litre and not comparable with mg/kg data.
Related evidence
Update history
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