Trace and major elements in Croatian bottled waters

The determination of the mass concentration values of selected trace and major elements in bottled drinking water has been done. The bottled waters of various brands - mineral still waters as well as sparkling waters labelled with the Made in Croatia were selected for this study. The products were collected in numerous supermarkets in Zagreb, Republic of Croatia. Drinking water stored both in PET and glass bottles were included in the research. The list of the elements that were analyzed in the bottle water samples is the following: Al, As, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sr, and Zn. The selected metals and metalloids were quantified by direct ICP-AES measurements. The obtained results are compared to the maximum allowable concentration values of these metals and metalloids in drinking waters prescribed by the WHO and by the Croatian directives as well as to the scientific literature data. The results obtained in this study reveal that, in terms of the analyzed elements content, all Croatian bottled waters are safe for use as drinking water, especially within their expiration dates before which the analyses were conducted.