TITLE:
Safety of Lebanese Bottled Waters: VOCs Analysis and Migration Studies
AUTHORS:
Aline Ghanem, Jacqueline Maalouly, Roula Abi Saad, Dalia Salameh, Chawki Oscar Saliba
KEYWORDS:
BTEX; Styrene; HS-SPME-GC/FID; SPE-GC/FID
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Analytical Chemistry,
Vol.4 No.4,
April
29,
2013
ABSTRACT: Despite the worldwide increase in the consumption of
PET-bottled mineral waters compared to tap waters encouraged by its microbiological
and chemical safety for public health, contaminants could migrate from the
plastic packaging into the water and induce adverse effects on human health.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene,
ortho, meta, and para-xylenes (BTEX), styrene, chlorobenzene and benzaldehyde
are among the potential contaminants of bottled waters. This study aimed to
assess Lebanese PET-bottled waters, in respect of VOCs contents, with
comparison to polycarbonate-bottled and tap waters. Both HS-SPME-GC/FID and
SPE-GC/FID were optimized and validated for VOCs determination in the waters,
and their performances were compared. The HS-SPME-GC/FID was valid (Afnor NF T
90-210 (May 2009)) for all the studied molecules with limits of quantifications
(LOQ) far lower the maximum contaminants levels (MCLs) set by both US-EPA and
WHO. SPE-GC/FID was valid only for ethylbenzene, m/p-xylenes,
o-xylene, and styrene, with poorer LOQs. HS-SPME-GC/FID was used therefore for
VOCs monitoring in studied water samples showing the safety of the Lebanese
bottled-water. The effects of bottles storage conditions (time, and
exposure to sunlight) on VOCs migration were also studied.