Oxygen determination in oxygen-supersaturated drinking waters by NMR relaxometry

In recent years, a rising number of different table waters supersaturated with oxygen have hit the market with claims of both positive health effects and an increase in athletic performance. In addition to research on the correctness of these claims and their possible physiological reasons, the appearance of oxygen supersaturation as a marketing promise also creates a need for appropriate analytical techniques allowing a rapid and reliable determination of oxygen contents in such waters. Here, we present NMR relaxometry as a possible analytical tool for such studies. NMR relaxation in oxygen supersaturated water is not only of interest in the context of monitoring the oxygen content in such drinking water products, but also might offer some interesting possibilities in medical and environmental science MRI applications. As a contact-less measuring method, NMR relaxometry avoids disturbance of the measurement due to outgassing. The method was applied in the concentration range from 10 mg l^-1 to over 100 mg l^-1 dissolved oxygen. In addition to freshly sampled drinking waters, also oxygen losses during storage of the water in open drinking vials was studied.