Heavy Metals, water and health - Dr. Tony Cooke

Everyone involved in the environment and health knows that whilst traces of some heavy metals, copper and zinc for example, are essential to maintaining good health, in higher concentrations, even beneficial metals can be toxic. Heavy metals are absorbed from a variety of sources in the environment and accumulate in the body over time. Water supplies can be contaminated by human activity, such as the discarding of industrial and consumer waste into landfill sites. Of course, commercial processes – mining, agriculture and manufacturing, for example – are also common sources of heavy metals contamination. And acidic rainwater can cause metals to leach out of surrounding soil and rock to contaminate groundwater. A series of recent international initiatives signals new, more cohesive action to ensure environmental sustainability. Bodies involved include the World Health Organisation (WHO), and it is proposed to upgrade the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to become a UN specialised agency for the environment.

In this article, we outline some of the health issues associated with the toxicity of chromium and arsenic, and highlight the use of Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (ASV) techniques for the accurate, reliable and cost-effective measurement of these metals in water samples.

Impacting Health

Environmental factors are a root cause of a significant burden of death, disease and disability globally. The WHO estimates that the impact of poor water quality and access to clean water Richard - you might want to clarify that this means access to clean water, exposure to toxic elements, and degraded urban environments accounts for at least 25% of death and disease around the world (figure 1).

Against this background, exposure to heavy metals plays a significant role. Two of the most significant metals are arsenic and chromium.