title: Effects of storage time and temperature on the antimony and some trace element release from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into the bottled drinking water.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Heavy metals are considered as one of the major contaminants that can enter into the bottled waters. Antimony (Sb) is a contaminant, which may leach from the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles into the water. The aim of this study was to investigate the content of antimony and other trace elements in bottled waters which was kept in varied storage conditions and temperatures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five time-temperature treatments were carried out on five different brands of commercially available bottled waters. Heavy metal measurement was performed by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) method. Analysis of the collected data was processed by SPSS software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Antimony concentration was the main concern in our study. The concentrations increased in each of the sample during storage period at all temperatures. The results for different conditions were as follow: at 40°C, in outdoor and at room temperature the Sb concentrations were below the MCLs, i e. 6 ppb. However, at 65°C and 80°C for longer storage times Sb concentration exceeded the MCLs, and variations between the samples were significant (p ≤ 0.05). Storage time and temperature effects on the content of some other trace elements such as Al, Fe were also significant (p ≤ 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  By increasing the duration of storage time and temperatures, antimony leaching from the PET bottles into the bottled water increased. The concentration of Al demonstrated an increase in higher temperatures and storage duration, whereas the content of Fe demonstrated no significant differences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Hygiene and Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Molaee Aghaee
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahmood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alimohammadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nabizadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jahed Khaniki
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; Center for Water Quality Research (CWQR), Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Simin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naseri
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; Center for Water Quality Research (CWQR), Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Amir Hossein
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Mahvi
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Kamyar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yaghmaeian
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aslani
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahrokh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nazmara
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mahmoudi
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghani
keywords: Antimony; Bottled water; PET; Trace elements