Lead contamination levels in potable, irrigation and waste waters from an industrial area in Southern Spain

We describe a method for the direct determination of lead in potable, irrigation and waste waters, using electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry with HNO3 and NH4H2PO4-NH4 NO3 as chemical modifiers. The temperature and time programs for mineralization and atomization of the element in each type of sample were optimized. We verified the sensitivity, accuracy and precision of the method and ruled out matrix interferences. The method was used to determine lead in waters sampled on an industrial area of the province of Granada in southeastern Spain. The range of lead concentrations in the samples tested were from 9.6 to 22.4 μg l−1 in potable water, from 6.3 to 103.7 μg l−1 and from 10.0 to 63.5 μg l−1 in wastewater. The possible sources of contamination, its repercussions on Pb levels in food and feed crops in this region, as well as the possible risks to human health were also evaluated.