Assessment of Arsenic, Chromium, and Lead Levels in Drinking Water After the 2023 Türkiye-Suriye Earthquakes: Implications for Public Health

Abstract

Objective: The 7.8 and subsequent 7.7 magnitude earthquakes that occurred in Türkiye on February 6, 2023, damaged tens of thousands of buildings and caused widespread destruction in Malatya. This study aims to assess the potential impacts of structural damage on drinking water quality. Materials and Methods: Two pools were sampled using tap water (TW) from 10 locations in the Yeşilyurt and Battalgazi districts, and bottled water (BW) from 10 brands sourced from Malatya and surrounding provinces. Onethird of the water from each pool was removed, and the remaining water of TW and BW was boiled to prepare tea and coffee samples. This resulted in six sample groups: tap water (TW), bottled water (BW), tea made with bottled water (T-BW), tea made with tap water (T-TW), coffee made with bottled water (C-BW), and coffee made with tap water (C-TW). Results: While the As level was measured at 0.628 µg/L in TW and BW samples, Cr and Pb values remained below the measurement limits; however, the lack of a specified limit in the relevant legislation for coffee/tea samples limited the study. Conclusions: This study shows that As, Cr, and Pb levels in both TW and BW samples are within acceptable limits. However, long-term monitoring of heavy metal accumulation and evaluation of multidimensional environmental factors affecting water quality, as well as other metals, are required.

Keywords

• Arsenic
• chromium
• earthquake
• heavy metals
• lead

Supporting Institution

Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye

Project Number

2209-A - Research Project Support Programme for Undergraduate Students supported this study with project number 1919B012431251.

Ethical Statement

Approval was obtained from the Malatya Turgut Özal University Health Sciences Scientific Research Ethics Committee under protocol number 2025/183.

Thanks

The authors thank The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye which contributed to and supported this study. While preparing this report, we checked English for spelling and grammatical errors using the Grammarly program.

2023 Türkiye-Suriye Depremleri Sonrasında İçme Suyundaki Arsenik, Krom ve Kurşun Seviyelerinin Değerlendirilmesi: Halk Sağlığı Açısından Etkileri

Abstract

Amaç: Türkiye’de 6 Şubat 2023’te meydana gelen 7.8 ve ardından 7.7 büyüklüğündeki depremler, Malatya’da on binlerce binanın hasar görmesine ve geniş çaplı yıkıma neden olmuştur. Bu çalışma ile söz konusu depremler sonrası oluşan yapısal hasarın içme suyu kalitesi üzerindeki olası etkilerini değerlendirmeyi amaçladık. Materyal ve Metot: Yeşilyurt ve Battalgazi ilçelerindeki 10 farklı noktadan alınan musluk suları (MS) ile Malatya ve çevre illerden temin edilen 10 farklı ticari markaya ait şişelenmiş sularından (ŞS) iki havuz örneği oluşturuldu. MS ve ŞS havuzlarından suyun üçte biri ayrıldıktan sonra geriye kalan sular kaynatılarak çay ve kahve örnekleri hazırlandı. Böylece toplam altı grup elde edildi: musluk suyu (MS), şişelenmiş su (ŞS), şişelenmiş sudan yapılan çay (Ç-ŞS), musluk suyundan yapılan çay (Ç-MS), şişelenmiş sudan yapılan kahve (K-ŞS) ve musluk suyundan yapılan kahve (K-MS). Bulgular: ŞS ve MS örneklerinde As düzeyi 0,628 µg/L olarak ölçülürken, Cr ve Pb değerleri ölçüm limitlerinin altında kalmıştır; ancak kahve/çay numuneleri, ilgili mevzuatta sınır değer belirtilmemiş olması çalışmayı sınırlandırdı. Sonuç: Bu çalışma hem MS hem de ŞS örneklerinde As, Cr ve Pb düzeylerinin kabul edilebilir sınırlar içinde olduğunu göstermektedir. Ancak ağır metal birikiminin uzun süreli izlenmesi ve diğer metallerin yanı sıra su kalitesini etkileyen çok boyutlu çevresel faktörlerin değerlendirilmesi gerekmektedir.

Keywords

• Deprem
• arsenik
• krom
• ağır metaller
• kurşun

Project Number

2209-A - Research Project Support Programme for Undergraduate Students supported this study with project number 1919B012431251.

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