Abstract
Water is very is important for life and therefore its quality is of high priority. Nitrite and nitrate concentration in water supplies are vital pointers to water quality. Public health becomes jeopardized with an increase in the concentration of nitrates and nitrites. Nitrates are converted to nitrites and nitrosamines and the consequent growth of methemoglobinemia in infants, based on this, nitrates are of immense toxicological concern. This study’s main objective was to examine nitrate and nitrite concentration in the most common water samples in the Western regions of Turkey. To achieve this, 13 varieties of mineral water and domestic fruity were subjected to examination. Using a photometry machine at 540nm, the color intensity of the samples was measured and compared with standard nitrite and nitrate solutions. Standard nitrate levels of 3.09371.53 mg/L (range 1.02–7.50 mg/L) for fruity, and 3.99072.46 mg/L (range1.09–13.20 mg/L) for natural mineral waters, were noticed. on the subject of nitrite, standard concentrations were 0.02670.008 mg/L (range 0.008–0.087 mg/L) for natural mineral waters and 0.02070.007 mg/L (range 0.009–0.049 mg/L) for fruity. As far as the results of the present study are concerned, it was found out that nitrate and nitrite concentration levels in the natural mineral water and fruity were not in the concentrations regarded as dangerous in terms of community health (Argonne National Laboratory, 2005, p. 17).
Introduction
Water is necessary for human life. The quality of water has a great health impact on both persons’ and communities’ health. The ever- Increasing contamination in drinking waters has resulted in amplified demand for natural mineral waters. Both developed and developing countries need pollution-free drinking water and this should be consistent in terms of quality and quantity for a healthy public nation. In addition, a steadfast source of hygienic drinking water is necessary for safeguarding the wellbeing of individuals and the community in general. Deadly diseases such as typhoid fever, cholera, and gastroenteritis spread by means of unhygienic drinking water and this can be controlled by the use of adequate standard drinking water. A supply having high concentration levels of chemical pollutants may also considerably affect the wellbeing of an entire population. Even though water is vital to existence, poor water standard as a result of industrial, sewage, and agricultural waste matter implies increased contact with nitrosamines and additional cancer-causing compounds, heavy metals, and insecticides for instance DDT. As a result of this population of underground drinking water, there has been increased utilization of natural mineral waters (Cemek et al, 2006, p. 23).
ARTI Natural mineral water is the water that comes from an underground water table and is different from bottled water in terms of its original cleanliness i.e. mineral content, trace minerals, microorganism, and other components which must stay constant. Only underground water has characteristics that can improve human well-being. Natural mineral water can be treated to enhance its purity. Bottling is carried out at the water source and treatments to adjust its constituents or disinfection of underground water microorganisms is forbidden. Carbon dioxide can be added at some point in the course of bottling. To boost the utilization of mineral waters a number of companies are manufacturing fruity mineral waters by blending with various fruit. Even though Turkey has the immense capability for natural mineral water, intake of natural mineral water is lesser in Turkey as compared to other European countries (Cemek et al, 2006, p. 23).
The growing levels of nitrate and nitrite chiefly are as a result of organic material in the soil, herbicides in manufacturing agriculture, application of nitrogenous fertilizers, domestic wastes, and septic tank waste matters that have led to contamination of drinks and food. Since nitrate is the last chemical product compound of biochemical oxidation of naturally linked nitrogen; consequently its elevated concentration in underground waters may perhaps serve as a confirmation of older contamination of organic origin. This nitrate is then converted to nitrite (Cemek et al, 2006, p. 23).
These nitrites have undesirable effects on human well-being, for instance, the chemical reaction between nitrite tertiary and secondary amines give forth to N-nitrosamines which are cancer-causing compound. To ensure a maximum of 50 mg/L for nitrate and 0.1 mg/L nitrite concentration drinking water, extensive and regular monitoring assessments be carried out as these are crucial pointers of water quality. In this study, the concentrations levels of nitrate and nitrite in natural mineral waters and fruity mineral water sold in western Turkey are reported.
Materials and methods
77 natural mineral waters and 63 fruity mineral waters from different 13 brands marketed in particularly in the Afyonkarahisar region of Turkey in May 2005 were analyzed. All these samples were from major manufactures. The analytical procedure was carried out at Afyon Kocatepe University of the Faculty of Science and Arts Chemical Laboratory. Fruity mineral waters examined were manufactured by adding peach, morello, lemon, apple, watermelon, and melon, etc., fruit scents additionally some preservatives indicated on the labels. In accordance with the information given on the bottle tags, test samples B and D were carbonated naturally, E, I, and K have carbonated artificially and the rest were either carbonated naturally or artificially. on the other hand, the total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations of ordinary mineral water test samples were categorized in the following manner: M and I (TDS>1500 mg/L) as high mineral constituent water, A, D, E, F, G, J and K (TDS<1500 mg/L) as average mineral constituent waters and samples B, C, H and L (TDS<500 mg/L) as low mineral constituent waters (Argonne National Laboratory, 2005, p. 154).
For ease of identification of brand products, fruity and natural water samples were categorized as A-M and stored at 4°C until evaluation was done. As a precautionary measure, test samples were investigated without delay once the bottle was opened and CO2 purged to circumvent interference in the spectrophotometer. Chemicals employed in this study, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, Griess reagent, vanadium (III) chloride, dihydrochloride, sulfanilamide, N-(1naphthyl) ethylenediamine, reduced form glutathione, phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, and glacial acetic acid were bought from Sigma Company. Analytical grade and Distilled water were used in the research. The standard curves resulting from Griess /vanadium (III) chloride evaluation for successively diluted nitrite and nitrate concentrations were used. At 540nm absorbance, linear regression of the average figures for every standard set subtracted by the figures for blank was used to establish the concentration levels of nitrite or total NOx in the samples that were being analyzed. Then the resulting figures were subtracted to determine the concentration of nitrate. Note that all samples were run twice for both natural mineral and fruity water samples (Argonne National Laboratory, 2005, p. 154).
The analysis was carried out in a standard flat-bottomed polystyrene microtiter plate. Nitrite and nitrate standardization standards were made by diluting sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite with distilled water. 100 µL of test samples were loaded on the plate, then vanadium (III) chloride (100 µL) was added to each well followed by rapid addition of the Griess reagents, N-(1-naphthyl) ethylenediamine dihydrochloride (50 µL) and sulfanilamide (50 µL). Griess reagents mixed with nitrite result in a chromophore as a result of diazotization of sulfanilamide because of acidic nitrite followed by pairing with bicyclic amines, for instance, N-1-(naphthyl) ethylenediamine. Nitrite concentrations were analyzed in an analogous manner apart from the nitrite standards w samples being exposed only to Griess reagents. Spectrophotometric absorbance of 540nm was employed in the examination of the total concentration of nitrate and nitrite in all test samples. SPSS statistics package program was employed in statistical analysis (Argonne National Laboratory, 2005, p. 154).
Results and discussion
Nitrate and nitrite concentration in fruity and natural mineral waters results for different brands collected from Afyonkarahisar retail marketplace are shown in tables 1 and 2. Based on table results, we see that test sample C gave the lowest concentration for nitrate with a range of 1.02–3.03 mg/L for fruity water against test samples A and E in which P<0.001. Moreover, natural mineral waters sample C gave a range of 1.09–3.11 mg/L in contrast to samples A, E, I, K, and M in which P<0.01, P<0.001, P<0.01, P< 0.001, and P<0.001, respectively. It turns out that sample E with a concentration of 4.09–7.12 mg/L for fruity waters and sample K with a range of 5.79–13.20 mg/L for natural mineral waters had the highest concentration of nitrates. For nitrite levels, the lowest concentration for sample c with 0.009–0.021 mg/L and sample J with 0.009–0.023 mg/L, the greatest concentration being E with range 0.021–0.048 mg/L and K with 0.009–0.023 mg/L in fruity mineral and natural mineral waters respectively. The nitrite concentrations were considerably less in samples A, k, and E where P<0.001(Argonne National Laboratory, 2005, p. 154).
We note significant differences among brands as far as nitrite and nitrate levels in both fruity and natural mineral glasses of water are concerned. However, there was a relationship between nitrate and nitrite concentration levels. On the other hand, with respect to nitrite and nitrate levels, there were no statistically noteworthy differences were observed for goods from the identical brand. Since the utilization of fruity and natural mineral water is on daily basis, their composition is investigated and understood in detail. In accordance with Velghe and Claeys’s study carried out in 1985 on mineral waters from 9 dissimilar brands, the average nitrate concentration in natural mineral waters was found out to be 7.1679.39 mg/L in the range of 0.2–26.8 mg/L. there has been a lot of research done on this subject for instance in 1987, Erbahadır found out that nitrate concentration ranged from 1.8 to 13.1 mg/L. In another study conducted in Turkey (Erbahadır, 1987) nitrate levels in natural mineral waters belonging to 5 different brands were varied from 1.8 to 13.1 mg/L.What’s more, in an examination carried out by Soyuyuce in 2000, the nitrate levels in natural mineral waters ranged between 0.01 and 4.84 mg/L, at the same time as the nitrite levels were noticed to fall between 0.0 and 0.0625 mg/L. based on this current analysis the mean nitrate level for natural mineral waters was 3.99072±46mg/L
and 3.09371±53 for fruity natural waters. On the other hand, the nitrite level was 0.026±70008 mg/L for natural mineral waters and 0.020±007 mg/L. nitrite is less stable compared to nitrate therefore nitrate simply is converted to nitrate in groundwater and data of nitrate in addition with nitrite are more or less primarily nitrate according to Bories and Bories, 1995 and Mikusˇ ka and Vecera, 2003 types of research. These research results are again confirmed in the current study which indicates higher nitrate concentration compared to nitrite (MAFF, 1998, p. 38).
Conclusion
In conclusion, hygienic water is necessary for life. Other than nitrate pollution of water from human excrement, livestock, and additional organic effluent, or industrial fertilizers are alarming due to their impending toxicity risks for the end-user. As explained earlier nitrite causes methemoglobinemia and consequent mental slow down in the infants. Nevertheless, extensive and regular analyses of nitrate and nitrite concentrations are required for the analysis of poisonous levels in natural and fruity, and mineral water samples. From the data above, we draw the conclusion that the natural and fruity mineral water samples from western Turkey are of recommendable standard and of the best quality for drinking. Furthermore, natural and fruity mineral waters of the sample brands examined met Turkish Food Regulations, 2004 presently in effect for nitrite and nitrate concentrations. As a final point, mineral water samples demonstrated a comparable high-quality quality from toxicological public health and toxicological opinion.
Reference List
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