Safe Concentration of Lead in Community Drinking Water in the Tapak River Area, Tugu City District, Semarang

Abstract

Lead (Pb) is one type of heavy metal that has a low melting point, is easily formed, and has active chemical properties. Lead is usually used to coat the metal to prevent rusting. It is highly dangerous for living things as it has carcinogenic properties, can cause mutations, and relatively takes long time to decay and its toxicity does not change for long time period. This study aimed to determine the safe concentration of lead in the water that consumed by people in Tugurejo Village, Tugu Kota Subdistrict, Semarang City, Central Java Province. This study was an observational study with non reactive research using reference dose (RfD) calculation and LOAEL. The sample was 35 people from the Tugurejo Village, Tugu Kota Subdistrict, Semarang City, Central Java Province. The measurement results show that the concentration of Lead (Pb) is 0.003 mg/L. This concentration is the same as the quality standard of 0.003 mg/L according to Government Regulation No. 82 of 2001 concerning Management of Water Quality and Water Pollution Control. This means that the concentration of lead in river water is still relatively safe. The manual calculation of safe concentration of lead in Tapak river water for drinking water produced a result of 0,00055 mg/L. It is below the maximum Pb limit for drinking water as stated in the Republic of Indonesia Minister of Health Regulation Number 492/MENKES/PER/ IV/2010 of 0.01 mg/L. This calculation can be used to predict safe concentrations of toxins in water for the manufacture of safe drinking water for the people of Tugurejo Village, Tugu City, Semarang, Central Java Province. Therefore, the environmental conditions of the Tapak river must be maintained so that the Lead (Pb) levels in the Tapak river water will not increase. © 2019, Indian Journal of Public Health Research and Development. All rights reserved.