Geochemistry of European Bottled Water

About this book

This book is an overview of the chemistry of groundwaters from 40 European countries from Portugal to Russia.

The data was measured on 1785 bottled water samples, equivalent to 1189 distinct bottled water brands from 1247 wells in 884 locations plus an additional 500 tap water samples acquired in 2008 by the network of EuroGeoSurveys experts all across Europe.

All chemical data (contained on the enclosed CD) was measured in a single laboratory, under strict quality control with high internal and external reproducibility, affording a single high quality, internally consistent dataset. More than 70 parameters were determined on every sample using state of the art analytical techniques with ultra low detection limits (ICPMS, ICPOES, IC) at a single hydrochemical lab facility.

Contents

Project Staff V
Foreword by the Secretary General of EuroGeoSurveys IX
Foreword by the President of the Federal Institute for Geo-sciences and Natural Resources,
Germany and the Director of the Geological Survey of Norway XI
Abstract 1
1 Introduction 3
1.1 The Concept of the “Geochemistry of European Bottled Water” Project 3
1.2 What is Groundwater? 4
1.3 What is Mineral Water? 5
1.3.1 From Mineral Water Springs and Spas to the Bottled Water Market 6
1.4 The Legal Framework: Bottled Waters, Spring Waters and Mineral Waters 7
1.4.1 Natural Mineral Water 8
1.4.2 Spring Water 11
1.4.3 Other Bottled Water / Table Water 8
1.4.4 Medicinal Waters 11
1.5 What does this Atlas Represent? 11
2 The Hydrochemistry of Groundwater 13
2.1 The Influence of Rainfall 13
2.2 The Influence of Vegetation 13
2.3 The Influence of the Soil 13
2.4 Acid-Base Reactions 14
2.5 Dissolution Reactions 14
2.6 Redox Reactions 14
2.7 Mixing with deep Saline Waters 15
2.8 Carbon Dioxide 15
2.9 Water Types 15
3 Background Information 17
3.1 Topography 17
3.2 Geology 17
3.2.1 Mineral Deposits of Europe 22
3.2.2 Hydrogeological map of Europe 23
3.3 Soil 23
3.4 Climate 24
3.5 Vegetation and Land Use 25
3.6 Human Activities 25
4 Methods 29
4.1 Sampling 29
4.2 Analyses 29
4.2.1 Sample preparation 33
4.2.2 ICP-QMS analyses 33
4.2.3 ICP-AES analyses 34
4.2.4 Atomic fl uorescence spectrometry (AFS) 35
4.2.5 Ion Chromatography (IC) 35
4.2.6 Photometric analyses 35
4.2.7 Titration 35
4.2.8 Potentiometry 35
4.2.9 Conductometry 35
4.3 Quality Control 35
4.3.1 International Reference Materials 36
4.3.2 The in-house MinWas project standard 36
4.3.3 Sample blanks 36
4.3.4 Detection limits 36
4.3.5 Duplicate analyses 43
4.3.6 Comparison of analytical results with the water composition
provided on the labels 43
4.3.7 Re-analyses of selected samples 44
4.4 Possible Problems with the Data in Terms of Representing True “Groundwater Quality”
or being able to Reflect “Geology” 46
4.4.1 Bottle leaching 46
4.4.2 The effect of carbonatisation 48
4.4.3 Other forms of water treatment 48
4.4.4 Further possible disturbing factors 51
4.5 Data Analysis and Mapping 51
5 Datasets 52
5.1 Bottled Water 52
5.2 European Tap Water 52
5.3 Other Datasets 52
6 Comparing Bottled Water with European Tap Water, Hardrock Groundwater
from Norway and European Surface Water 53
7 Maps and their Interpretation 63
8 Health Implications 201
8.1 Elements with established MAC-Values for Mineral Water
(EU Directive 2003/40/EC Mineral Water) 202
Antimony, 202; Arsenic, 202; Barium, 203; Cadmium, 203; Chromium, 203; Copper, 203;
Fluoride, 204; Lead, 204; Manganese, 204; Mercury, 204; Nickel, 205; Nitrate, 205; Nitrite, 205; Selenium, 205
8.2 Elements (Parameters) with Established MAC (or Guideline)-Values for Drinking Water
(EC Directive 98/83/EC) but not for Mineral Water 205
Aluminium, 205; Ammonium, 206; Boron, 206; Chloride, 206; Electrical conductivity (EC), 206; Iron, 206; pH-value, 206; Sodium, 206; Sulphate, 207
8.3 Elements with non-EU Drinking Water MAC Values 207
Silver, 207; Beryllium, 207; Molybdenum, 207; Strontium, 207; Thallium, 207; Uranium, 207;
Vanadium, 208
8.4 Other Health-Relevant Elements 208
Iodine, 208; Lithium (Rubidium, Caesium), 208; Rare Earth Elements (REE), 209; Thorium, 209
8.5 Additional Remarks 209
9 Conclusions 211
References 213
Appendix A Table of Water Action Levels as defined by the EU and for the majority of Countries from which water samples are included in this study 221
Appendix B Statistical summary table for the datasets used in this Atlas 251
Table of Contents of CD-ROM 268

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