Samples from eight different sources of mineral water from São Paulo State were purchased from August 1999 to May 2000 in order to evaluate the physical-chemical quality. In general, most samples were within the limits permited by the Brazilian legislation, except for four samples which showed color results above 5 PtCo units, one sample with pH outside the recommended range (pH 4 to 9) and one sample which presented hydroxide alkalinity in two different periods of sampling. The results varied according to the following ranges: pH from 6.39 to 9.92, alkalinity from 0.00 to 189.10mg L-1 de HCO3-1, hardness from 0.00 to 136.00mg L-1 carbonate of calcium, color from 0.0 to 9.0 units PtCo, turbidity from 0.00 to 2.00 FTU of turbidity, sulphate from 0.00 to 55.67mg L-1, sulfide from 0.00 to 0.002mg L-1, chloride from 0.00 to 23.53mg L-1, fluoride de 0.02 a 0.8mg L-1 aluminum from 0.01 to 0.09mg L-1, barium from 0.00 to 0.26mg L-1, calcium from 0.53 to 28.35mg L-1, chromium from 0.00 to 0.01mg L-1, iron from 0.00 to 0.03mg L-1, potassium from 0.39 to 3.27mg L-1, sodium from 0.53 to 97.29mg L-1, magnesium from 0.00 to 9.10mg L-1, manganese from 0.00 to 0.05mg L-1, zinc from 0.00 to 0.03mg L-1, lead from 0.00 to 0.01mg L-1 and lithium from 0.00 to 0.02mg L-1. The elements cadmium, copper and cobalt were below the limits of detection for the analytical methods.
mineral water; physical-chemical parameters; oligoelements; atomic emission spectrometry
