title: Quality assessment of Romanian bottled mineral water and tap water.
abstract: This study reports the evaluation of bottled mineral water characteristics using fluorescence spectroscopy (synchronous fluorescence scans and emission spectra) and physico-chemical analyses. Samples from 14 still mineral water brands were compared to 11 tap waters collected from two Romanian cities. Correlation and factor analyses were undertaken to understand the relationships between the individual components. The concentration of major and minor ions showed great variation between the bottled mineral water samples highlighting the diversity of the water intakes, while in the case of tap water the chemical composition was relatively similar for samples collected in the same city. Fluorescence data showed that the mineral water contained low quantities of organic matter. The humic fraction was dominant in all samples, while the microbial fraction was low in most samples. Synchronous fluorescence scans provided more information, regarding the composition of organic matter, compared to emission spectra. The study evidenced the correlation between fluorescence parameters and major elements and highlighted the potential of using fluorescence for qualitative evaluation of the bottled mineral water quality, as a screening method before undertaking complex analyses.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of R&D for Optoelectronics, Atomistilor 409, RO-077125, Magurele, Romania. elfrida.carstea@inoe.ro.
authors.forename: Elfrida
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: M Carstea
authors.affiliation: National Institute of R&D for Optoelectronics, Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation Subsidiary, Donath 67, 400293, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Erika A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Levei
authors.affiliation: National Institute of R&D for Optoelectronics, Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation Subsidiary, Donath 67, 400293, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Maria-Alexandra
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hoaghia
authors.affiliation: National Institute of R&D for Optoelectronics, Atomistilor 409, RO-077125, Magurele, Romania.
authors.forename: Roxana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Savastru
mesh_terms: D002947:Cities; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000592:standards*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D008900:Mineral Waters / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards*; D012383:Romania; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D008900:Mineral Waters
keywords: Bottled mineral water; Chemical characterization; Fluorescence spectroscopy; Tap water