تقييم تلوث المياه الجوفية ومياه الأمطار بالمعادن الثقيلة في في مناطق معينة من الضفة الغربية / فلسطين بواسطة جهاز مطياف الكتلة البلازمي ((ICP-MS. | Determination of different trace heavy metals in ground and harvested rain water in certain regions of West Bank/Palestine by ICP/MS

Surface and ground water contamination with heavy metals is one of the most important environmental issues as they are toxic even at low concentrations. This study was conducted to determine heavy metal concentrations in ground drinking water of north and south West Bank in addition to harvested rain water in south West Bank. Water samples were analyzed for different trace heavy metals (Tl, Pb, Bi, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo, Ag and Cd) and Al content by ICP/MS. In North West Bank, three triplicates where obtained from five different wells. In South West Bank, three triplicates from ten groundwater wells were obtained in four different dates of the year (October 2012, November 2012, March 2013, and April 2013). The samples were analyzed for their pH, Electrical Conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids, and different trace metals content. The pH, Electrical Conductivity, and Total Dissolved Solids of all water samples were found to be within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guideline. In South West Bank, Results showed that Pb, Al, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Mo were detected in all water samples analyzed in this study, while Tl, Bi, Mn, Ag, and Cd were detected in 80%, 88%, 90%, 75%, and 95% of the water samples analyzed in this study, respectively. In general, 93% of all samples analyzed contained one or more of the 13 metals studied each in varying concentration. Furthermore, results showed that the concentration of Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Mo is within the allowed WHO limits in drinking water. However the concentration of Pb, Cd, and Al are found to be higher than the allowed WHO limits in 40%, 8%, and 33% of the water samples analyzed in this study, respectively. Statistical analyses showed that concentrations of the metals studied were varied significantly between the ten ground water wells in south West Bank, indicating that the wells analyzed in this study is different from each other in terms of heavy metal content. Additionally, from the statistical results obtained, it was found that there is a significant difference in the concentration of the metals in each well during the wet and dry season, denoting that metal concentration in the wells varies significantly with sampling time. At the North West Bank, Results showed that the concentration of trace metals (Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo, Pb, Cd, and Al) is within the allowed WHO limits in drinking water (50, 500, 20, 2000, 3000, 70, 10, 3, and 200 µg/L, respectively), however six metals of them X (Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Mo, and Al) were detected in 100% of the samples, while Pb, Cd, and Zn were detected in 80%, 60%, and 20% of the samples, respectively. On the other hand, Tl which is a very toxic heavy metal with allowed WHO limits of 0.01-1 µg/L, is detected in 100% of the water samples analyzed with a range of 0.02-0.12 µg/L, which indicates that such concentration level of Tl would be harmful for human being used these groundwater for domestic purposes. In general, 82% of all samples analyzed contained one or more of the 12 metals studied each in varying concentration. Furthermore, harvested Rain water samples for drinking from West part of Hebron (south of West Bank in Palestine), were analyzed for different trace heavy metals (Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo, Ag, Cd, Bi, and Pb) content by ICP/MS. A total of 44 water samples per houses cisterns were collected in November 2012 used to collect harvested rain water from the houses roofs. Results showed that concentrations of the heavy metals vary significantly between the 44 samples. Results also showed that the concentration of five heavy metals (Cr, Mn, Ni, Ag, and Pb) were higher than the WHO limits for these heavy metals in drinking water. The results obtained from this study suggest a possible risk to the population of the study area given the toxicity of these metals, and the fact that for many people in the study area, ground water and harvested rain water is a main source of their water supply