Multielement Analysis of Fresh and Salt Surface Water from Different Continents

Metals and metalloids in aquatic environments are a result of anthropogenic activities as well as of natural events. Many investigations have been carried out focusing on certain remote or polluted areas. The present project intended to obtain a more widespread picture of elements in fresh and salt surface water. For this purpose, samples were collected from 22 countries and three continents. These were analyzed for 29 elements, covering potentially toxic elements but also saline elements, by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Statistical analysis of the obtained results showed significant differences between countries as well as between water types: Alkali metals and earth alkaline metals contributed most to the distinction of water types. The results from this study were consistent with data from the literature regarding fresh water from different locations. Al, As, Cd, Co, Mo, Ni, Se, Ni, and U correlated with the geographic provenience of the samples. A correlation analysis, which also included three perfluorinated alkyl substances from a previous study, showed a correlation between the organic contaminants and V and As.