Quality assessment of NAFDAC certified sachet water brands produced in Local Government Areas in Owerri Zone, Imo State,

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Quality assessment of NAFDAC certified sachet water brands produced in Local Government Areas in Owerri Zone, Imo State, Nigeria E. N. Onyeneke1 · C. E. Duru2 · B. C. Nwokeke3 Received: 8 March 2020 / Accepted: 15 April 2020 © Islamic Azad University (IAU) 2020

Abstract Locally produced and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) certified sachet water brands vended in the nine Local Government Areas (LGA) within Owerri zone of Imo State were sourced and assessed for their compliance to regulatory standards. Three companies were selected from each LGA and samples were randomly collected monthly from each factory for a period of three months. The physicochemical properties of the water samples were determined and the data obtained analyzed for pollution, consumption suitability and non-carcinogenic hazard risks using chemometric models. The pH, electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids had values ranging between 3.09 ± 0.34 and 7.29 ± 0.36, 11.66 ± 1.52 and 90.66 ± 6.02 µS/cm and 5.33 ± 2.08 and 66.67 ± 2.51 mg/L, respectively. Copper, iron, manganese, nickel, chromium, zinc and cadmium were detected in 40%, 7%, 22%, 11%, 11%, 81% and 30% of the samples, respectively. The mean values of cadmium and nickel were higher than the permissible limits. Sulphate was not detected in all the water samples, while nitrate, phosphate and chloride were below the permissible limits. Though the inhabitants are not at risk of chronic daily intake of heavy metals by the consumption of these sachet water products, the high hazard index values (> 1) obtained for sachet water samples from Owerri North and Ezinihitte Mbaise were indications that regular consumption of sachet water from these areas would have adverse health effects on adults and children. Regular quality checks of sachet water produced in rural areas, therefore, is very necessary to complement the efforts of government regulatory agencies. Keywords  Sachet water · Permissible limit · Cadmium · Nickel · Chronic daily intake · Hazard index

Introduction Water is considered the second most important matter on earth after air and, therefore, availability and accessibility to water resources are vital for human existence. Over 900 million people out of the 7.7 billion people currently in the world, still lack access to quality drinking water (Isiuku and Enyoh 2019). The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) report (WHO/UNICEF 2006) expected that half of the world population would have access to potable water by 2015. Provision of portable water has been a topical issue and * C. E. Duru [email protected] 1



Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Imo State University, P.M.B. 2000, Owerri, Imo, Nigeria

2



Department of Chemistry, Imo State University, P.M.B.2000, Owerri, Imo, Nigeria

3

Department of Food Science and Technology, Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo, Ohaji, Imo, Nigeria



of critical challenge to government and non-governmental organizations. Reports have implicated polluted water as the leading caus