BARC develops portable kit for detection of Chromium contamination of
water
BARC has developed a simple, user friendly, quick and
cost effective kit for onsite determination of Hexavalent Chromium Cr(VI),
which meets IS10500 as well as EPA criterion. It provides the much needed
solution to measure the level of Chromium contamination in drinking water and
tap water, lakes, rivers as well as ground water.
The procedure involves adding a specified amount of
specific reagents to the water sample and identifying the developed colour. The
colour develops within 5 minutes and the distinction can be made with naked
eye. For ease of comparison a colour chart is provided with the kit.
Benefits
of this kit:
· With this, water samples can be
immediately categorized as being safe or toxic for drinking from Chromium(VI)
point of view.
· The kit provides several advantages
including on site detection and instantaneous results, elimination of use of
sophisticated instruments for analysis, low investment on infrastructure for
production of the kit, easy availability of raw materials and very good
accuracy for the intended purpose.
Background:
· Chromium is widely used in various
industries like leather, steel, chrome plating, paint manufacturing, wood
preservation etc. Untreated effluents from these industries cause widespread
contamination of water.
Chromium in the environment primarily exists as Trivalent
Chromium Cr(III) and Hexavalent Chromium Cr(VI). The latter is toxic and the
World Health Organization has classified it as carcinogenic and can cause
stomach ulcers and cancers and severe damage to kidneys and liver.
As per Indian standard IS10500 for drinking water, the
maximum permissible concentration of Cr(VI) in drinking water is 50 microgram
per litre. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends a still
lower permissible concentration of 10 microgram per liter.
Detection of Cr(VI) at such low levels is not only
technically challenging but also expensive and time consuming since it involves
collection of water samples from affected areas, transport to laboratory,
storage and finally analysis.
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