Cadmium and zinc concentrations in drinking water supplies of dhaka city, Bangladesh

Abstract

The cadmium concentration in different drinking water supplies of Dhaka City is reported. In this study, cadmium was extracted from water into chloroform after chelation with sodium diethyldithiocarbamate and then back extracted into water for determination by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). The concentration of cadmium in source water is below the detection limit (51 μgl −1) and that in supply water (tap water) and tube-well water ranges from 1.03 to 1.58 and 1.71 to 2.24 ppb, respectively. The corresponding zinc content ranges from 0.013 to 0.30, 0.018 to 3.8 and 0.042 to 0.37 ppm. The implications of these findings are discussed.