Quantifying inorganic contaminants in the municipal drinking water using ICP-MS

CHED 204

Uchenna Obianagu, chennarara@yahoo.com1, Andrea D. Oyewole, adoyewole@yahoo.com1, Felicia Conley1, Renard L. Thomas, thomas_rl@tsu.edu2, and Bobby L. Wilson, wilson_bl@tsu.edu2. (1) Department of Chemistry, Texas Southern University, 3100 Cleburn, Houston, TX 77004, (2) Department of Chemistry, NASA University Research Center,Texas Southern University, 3100 Cleburne, Houston, TX 77004
The municipal district supplies drinking water to a large number of the greater Houston area. A comprehensive study was conducted to identify trace metals, along with their level of abundance, within the water and compare them to EPA maximum contaminant levels. Trace metal contaminated water samples were collected from eight local fire stations and quantified in accordance to EPA method 200.8 version 5.4. For secondary contaminants, the results showed that some fire stations exceeded standards for sodium and iron. For primary contaminants, some fire stations exceeded set levels for copper and lead. Although sodium and aluminum are not primary contaminants, their levels well surpassed the maximum contaminant levels and therefore may be a cause for concern. Lead is a primary contaminant and is considered hazardous at any level. Proper measures should be taken to make sure that municipal drinking water in areas tested meet the EPA standard levels.
 

Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Analytical Chemistry
11:00 AM-1:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008