Multielement determination using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry for metal characterization of water from artesian wells in Semberija region: Multivariate analysis of data

Abstract

The concentrations of fifteen metals (Mg, Na, Ca, K, Se, Zn, Mn, Fe, Pb, Cr, Cu, Cd, Sb, Ni and Co) were determined in water taken from ten artesian wells (AW) in Semberija in order to obtain a general metal profile of water in this region. The principal components analysis (PCA) was used in this classification. Two factors controlling the metal variability were obtained by using principal component analysis, which accounted for nearly 71.5% of the total variance. Natural (lithogenic) factor is represented by PC1, while anthropogenic factor is represented by PC2. PC1 with high contribution of Mn, Mg, Na, K, Ca, Zn and Se accounting for 41.84% of the total variance, while PC2 exhibits high loading for Cd, Ni, Sb, Cr and Pb (29.66%). Three general areas (clusters) with different metal characteristics were detected. Water from artesian wells in first cluster (AW1-AW6) had much higher metal concentration compared with those in the second (AW7-AW9) and third cluster (AW10). That is as a result of anthropogenic inputs. Also, the analysis of water demonstrated slightly elevated values for Mn (concentrations up to 0.176 mg/L), while concentrations of the other investigated elements are below the values recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).