Arsenic in Drinking Water Resources in Six Cities Located in the Western Coastal Strip of Libya

Tawfik M. Hassan; Nuri Ibrahim  ALamari; Yousef Alsenusi  ALmabsout

doi:10.35516/jjas.v19i1.1395

Authors

Tawfik M. Hassan The University of Tripoli, Libya https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9620-4785
Nuri Ibrahim ALamari Food & Drug Control Center, khoms, Libya https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8400-7020
Yousef Alsenusi ALmabsout Food Science & Technology Department, The University of Tripoli, Libya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35516/jjas.v19i1.1395

Keywords:

Arsenic, Bottled water, Groundwater, Libya, Public supply system

Abstract

Water used for drinking and food preparation is the most dangerous source of long-term human exposure to arsenic. The study aimed to identify arsenic level in samples of domestic groundwater, public water supply, bottled water, and water from purification shops in five locations along the coastal strip of Libya. The efficiency of removing arsenic in water by reverse osmosis (RO) unit in two water bottling plants was also investigated. Arsenic was analyzed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Results show that arsenic in domestic groundwater, public water supply systems, bottled water, and water from purifying shops range respectively: 6.06-70.48, 2.66-22.76, 1.20-11.20, 2.022-9.55 ug/L. The results revealed that 83% of groundwater samples and 5% of bottled water samples exceeded 10ug/l the maximum permissible level in drinking water by Libyan standards. Meanwhile, water samples from purifying shops are below 10ug/l. Public water supply samples from two sites contained arsenic > 10ug/l. The RO unit is able to reduce arsenic in water by 75%, which means that arsenic in unpurified water should not exceed 35 ug/l. The study highly recommends that households who rely on domestic groundwater should install household RO units to be saved from the health risk of chronic arsenic exposure.

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Author Biographies

Tawfik M. Hassan, The University of Tripoli, Libya

Food Science & Technology Department, The University of Tripoli, Libya

Nuri Ibrahim ALamari, Food & Drug Control Center, khoms, Libya

Food Science, Food & Drug Control Center, khoms, Libya

Yousef Alsenusi ALmabsout, Food Science & Technology Department, The University of Tripoli, Libya

Food Science & Technology Department, The University of Tripoli, Libya

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