Lead as a legendary pollutant with emerging concern: Survey of lead in tap water in an old campus building using four sampling methods
Journal
Science of the Total Environment
Journal Volume
636
Pages
1510-1516
Date Issued
2018
Author(s)
Abstract
In this study, a sampling campaign with a total of nine sampling events investigating lead in drinking water was conducted at 7 sampling locations in an old building with lead pipes in service in part of the building on the National Taiwan University campus. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of four different sampling methods, namely first draw sampling, sequential sampling, random daytime sampling and flush sampling, in lead contamination detection. In 3 out of the 7 sampling locations without lead pipe, lead could not be detected (<1.1 μg/L) in most samples regardless of the sampling methods. On the other hand, in the 4 sampling locations where lead pipes still existed, total lead concentrations >10 μg/L were consistently observed in 3 locations using any of the four sampling methods while the remaining location was identified to be contaminated using sequential sampling. High lead levels were consistently measured by the four sampling methods in the 3 locations in which particulate lead was either predominant or comparable to soluble lead. Compared to first draw and random daytime samplings, although flush sampling had a high tendency to reduce total lead in samples in lead-contaminated sites, the extent of lead reduction was location-dependent and not dependent on flush durations between 5 and 10 min. Overall, first draw sampling and random daytime sampling were reliable and effective in determining lead contamination in this study. Flush sampling could reveal the contamination if the extent is severe but tends to underestimate lead exposure risk. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.
Subjects
Asia; Drinking water; First draw sampling; Flush sampling; Random daytime sampling; Sequential sampling
Other Subjects
Contamination; Location; Potable water; Water pollution; Asia; Contaminated sites; Lead concentration; Lead contamination; Location dependents; National Taiwan University; Random daytime samplings; Sequential sampling; Chemical detection; drinking water; lead; tap water; lead; building; drinking water; lead; sampling; water pollution; water quality; analytic method; Article; building; concentration (parameters); priority journal; randomization; Taiwan; university; water analysis; water contamination; water pollutant; water pollution; water sampling; analysis; chemistry; environmental monitoring; procedures; statistics and numerical data; water pollutant; water supply; Taiwan; Drinking Water; Environmental Monitoring; Lead; Taiwan; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Water Supply
Type
journal article