engleski

Analyses of drinking waters in Croatia: Are they an underestimated source of essential minerals?

Introduction: Increasing consumption of various bottled waters in Croatia could contribute to higher intake of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K) and sodium (Na) providing advantages and/or disadvantages for certain health conditions, like osteoporosis and blood pressure. Our objectives were to assess: 1) concentrations of Ca, Mg, K, Na in various drinking waters (including tap) available to Croatian consumers and compare them with the label-declared values ; 2) consumption of various waters and their contribution to Ca, Mg, K, Na intake in sample of Croatian women. Methods: 43 kinds of drinking waters were analyzed, including spring (7), mineral (28), table (2) and tap (collected from 6 sites). They were analyzed by flame-atomic absorption (Ca/Mg) and emission (K/Na) spectrometry. Consumption of waters was assessed in 186 healthy Croatian women, from 20-80years (mean+/-SD, 32.5+/-16.2years), by utilizing Food-Frequency-Questionnaire adapted for assessing quality/quantity of drinking waters. Results: The label-declared values for Ca, Mg, K, Na were comparable to the values analyzed in our laboratory, for most of the waters (discrepancy <20%). However, some label-values deviated up to 60-70% from the measured values for stated minerals. The declared values for tap waters were not available. Participants on average consumed ~1 L/day and 0.3 L/day of tap and mineral waters, respectively. Based on our measured values, there was additional ~15% of Ca consumed, or 124 mg/day and 22 mg/day from tap and mineral waters, respectively. There was additional 23 mg/day and 11.5 mg/day Mg ; 33 mg/day and 93.3 mg/day Na ; 3.3 mg/day and 1.5 mg/day K from tap and mineral waters, respectively.

drinking water; calcium; essential minerals; intake; magnesium; potassium; sodium

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