Concentration of Nitrate in Bottled Drinking Water in Qom, Iran

Background & Aims of the Study: Consumption of bottled water in the world isincreasing. The highest growth rates are occurring in Asia and South America. Biologicaland chemical monitoring of these waters is necessary. The aim of current study wasdetermination of nitrate concentration in bottled drinking water in Qom, Iran in 2012.Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional study carried out in Qom, Iran. First of all, 18most frequent brands of bottled drinking waters were purchased in June 2012 randomly.Then concentration of nitrate was measured according to the spectrophotometric method. Innext step, experiment data were analyzed by Excel Software and Pvalue was obtained bystatistical calculations. Finally data were comprised with written nitrate concentration onlabels and recommended permissible values.Results: The median nitrate concentration was 2.1 mg/L with the minimum 0.8 mg/L andmaximum 8.1 mg/L. In 66.7 % of the samples, the measured nitrate concentrations wereless than the written nitrate concentrations and in 33.3% of samples, the nitrateconcentration was higher. The statistical calculation proved the significant differencebetween the median of written nitrate concentration on the label and investigated nitrateconcentration (Pvalue > 0.05).Conclusions: It be concluded that the measured nitrate concentration in all of the watersamples is below the recommended permissible level.