title: Impact of Calcium and Magnesium in Groundwater and Drinking Water on the Health of Inhabitants of the Slovak Republic.
abstract: This work aims to evaluate the impact of the chemical composition of groundwater/drinking water on the health of inhabitants of the Slovak Republic. Primary data consists of 20,339 chemical analyses of groundwater (34 chemical elements and compounds) and data on the health of the Slovak population expressed in the form of health indicators (HI). Fourteen HIs were evaluated including life expectancy, potential years of lost life, relative/standardized mortality for cardiovascular and oncological diseases, and diseases of the gastrointestinal and respiratory systems. The chemical and health data were expressed as the mean values for each of the 2883 Slovak municipalities. Artificial neural network (ANN) was the method used for environmental and health data analysis. The most significant relationship between HI and chemical composition of groundwater was documented as Ca + Mg (mmol·L-1), Ca and Mg. The following limit values were set for these most significant groundwater chemical parameters: Ca + Mg 2.9-6.1 mmol·L-1, Ca 78-155 mg·L-1and Mg 28-54 mg·L-1. At these concentration ranges, the health of the Slovak population is the most favorable and the life expectancy is the highest. These limit values are about twice as high in comparison to the current Slovak valid guideline values for drinking water.
authors.affiliation: State Geological Institute of Dionyz Stur, Mlynská Dolina 1, 817 04 Bratislava, Slovak Republic. stanislav.rapant@geology.sk.
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rapant
authors.affiliation: State Geological Institute of Dionyz Stur, Mlynská Dolina 1, 817 04 Bratislava, Slovak Republic. veronika.cveckova@geology.sk.
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cvečková
authors.affiliation: State Geological Institute of Dionyz Stur, Mlynská Dolina 1, 817 04 Bratislava, Slovak Republic. katarina.fajcikova@geology.sk.
authors.forename: Katarína
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fajčíková
authors.affiliation: WHO Country Office in the Slovak Republic, Limbová 2, 837 52 Bratislava, Slovak Republic. sedlakovad@who.int.
authors.forename: Darina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sedláková
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Economics and Business, Paneuropean University, Tematínska 10, 851 05 Bratislava, Slovak Republic. stehlikovab@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Beáta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stehlíková
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000032:analysis*; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D060587:Groundwater / Q000032:analysis*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008274:Magnesium / Q000032:analysis*; D018154:Slovakia; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008274:Magnesium; D002118:Calcium
keywords: Ca; Mg; gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases; groundwater; health status of inhabitants; mortality from cardiovascular; oncological