Professional paper
https://doi.org/10.2478/10004-1254-62-2011-2119
Mineral Oil Drinking Water Pollution Accident in Slavonski Brod, Croatia
Zvonimira Medverec Knežević
orcid.org/0000-0002-2615-2171
; Zavod za javno zdravstvo Brodsko-posavske županije, Slavonski Brod, Hrvatska
Martina Nadih
; Zavod za javno zdravstvo Brodsko-posavske županije, Slavonski Brod, Hrvatska
Renata Josipović
; Zavod za javno zdravstvo Brodsko-posavske županije, Slavonski Brod, Hrvatska
Ivanka Grgić
; Zavod za javno zdravstvo Brodsko-posavske županije, Slavonski Brod, Hrvatska
Ante Cvitković
; Zavod za javno zdravstvo Brodsko-posavske županije, Slavonski Brod, Hrvatska
Abstract
On 21 September 2008, heavy oil penetrated the drinking water supply in Slavonski Brod, Croatia. The accident was caused by the damage of heat exchange units in hot water supply. The system was polluted until the beginning of November, when the pipeline was treated with BIS O 2700 detergent and rinsed with water. Meanwhile, water samples were taken for chemical analysis using spectrometric and titrimetric methods and for microbiological analysis using membrane fi ltration and total plate count. Mineral oils were determined with infrared spectroscopy. Of the 192 samples taken for mineral oil analysis, 55 were above the maximally allowed concentration (MAC). Five samples were taken for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene analysis (BTEX), but none was above MAC. Epidemiologists conducted a survey about health symptoms among the residents affected by the accident. Thirty-six complained of symptoms such as diarrhoea, stomach cramps, vomiting, rash, eye burning, chills, and gastric disorders. This is the first reported case of drinking water pollution with mineral oil in Slavonski Brod and the accident has raised a number of issues, starting from poor water supply maintenance to glitches in the management of emergencies such as this.
Keywords
BTEX; gastric disorders; heavy oil; PAH; water supply
Hrčak ID:
75040
URI
Publication date:
19.12.2011.
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