This rain water samples harvested for drinking and agriculture from Gaza collected
in November 2012 were analyzed for different rare metals (Rb, Zr, Ti, Tl, Sb, Sc, Y),
and rare earth metals (La, and Ce). These metals usually have no maximum acceptable
limits as there is no sufficient data about their toxicity to human health. Their
control should be therefore controlled in water to monitor their concentration in
water (ground, harvested, etc.). This study was conducted to determine the water
quality of harvested water which is used for drinking in the study area. 43 water
samples were collected in November 2012 during the first rain from house wells and
rain water pools. The concentrations of the metals detected in the collected harvested
rainwater vary significantly between the 43 samples, and all of them were detected in
all water samples analyzed in this study. The results obtained from this study suggest
a possible risk to the population of the study area given the high concentration of
some metals that have no maximum allowed concentration, and the fact that for
many people in the study area, harvested rain water is a main source of their water
supply.The authors are grateful to the Association of Arab Universities for their financial support.
The authors would like also to thank the volunteers at MECA (Middle East
Children’s Alliance) who worked tirelessly on short notice to mobilize volunteers and
collect water samples across the entire Gaza strip during the first rain after the bombings
in November, 2012

Al-Qutob, M. A.

Al-Rimawi, F.

Journal of Water Resource and Protection

English

Al-Quds University Digital Repository

Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 2016, 8, 905-912 
http://www.scirp.org/journal/jwarp 
ISSN Online: 1945-3108 
ISSN Print: 1945-3094 
DOI: 10.4236/jwarp.2016.810074  September 8, 2016 
 
 
 
Analysis of Different Rare Metals, 
and Rare Earth Metals in 
Harvested Rain Water in Gaza 
Strip/Palestine by ICP/MS-Data and 
Health Aspects 
M. A. Al-Qutob1,2*, F. Al-Rimawi3 
1Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science and Technology, Al-Quds University, East Jerusalem, Palestine  
2Aquatic and Aquaculture Research Laboratory, Al-Quds University, East Jerusalem, Palestine 
3Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science and Technology, Al-Quds University, East Jerusalem, Palestine 
 
 
 
Abstract 
This rain water samples harvested for drinking and agriculture from Gaza collected 
in November 2012 were analyzed for different rare metals (Rb, Zr, Ti, Tl, Sb, Sc, Y), 
and rare earth metals (La, and Ce). These metals usually have no maximum accepta-
ble limits as there is no sufficient data about their toxicity to human health. Their 
control should be therefore controlled in water to monitor their concentration in 
water (ground, harvested, etc.). This study was conducted to determine the water 
quality of harvested water which is used for drinking in the study area. 43 water 
samples were collected in November 2012 during the first rain from house wells and 
rain water pools. The concentrations of the metals detected in the collected harvested 
rainwater vary significantly between the 43 samples, and all of them were detected in 
all water samples analyzed in this study. The results obtained from this study suggest 
a possible risk to the population of the study area given the high concentration of 
some metals that have no maximum allowed concentration, and the fact that for 
many people in the study area, harvested rain water is a main source of their water 
supply. 
 
Keywords 
Rare Metals, Rare Earth Elements, WHO Limits, ICP/MS, Gaza Strip, Harvested 
Rain Water 
How to cite this paper: Al-Qutob, M.A. 
and Al-Rimawi, F. (2016) Analysis of Dif-
ferent Rare Metals, and Rare Earth Metals in 
Harvested Rain Water in Gaza Strip/Pales- 
tine by ICP/MS-Data and Health Aspects. 
Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 
8, 905-912.  
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jwarp.2016.810074   
 
Received: July 14, 2016 
Accepted: September 3, 2016 
Published: September 8, 2016 
 
Copyright © 2016 by authors and  
Scientific Research Publishing Inc. 
This work is licensed under the Creative 
Commons Attribution International  
License (CC BY 4.0). 
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 
   Open Access
M. A. Al-Qutob, F. Al-Rimawi 
 
906 
1. Introduction 
The importance of water for man makes management of this natural resource a priority 
in order to preserve its sustainability. Water analysis plays a decisive role in regulations 
that determine the water quality levels for different uses e.g., for drinking water [1]. 
Water analysis is applicable also to the study of water origin and evolution, taking into 
account the natural and anthropic influences, e.g. water-water and water-rock interac-
tions, contamination processes, etc. 
Occurrence of metals in water is sensitive to anthropic influences [2]. Therefore, it is 
reported that the concentrations of rare metals in water have been increased as a result 
of human and anthropogenic activities [3]-[6]. 
The advances in analytical techniques facilitate the application of the hydrochemical 
fingerprint concept. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is par-
ticularly suitable for this purpose due to the possibility of rapid multielement analysis 
in combination with excellent detection limits [7]-[10]. The ICP-MS allows one to ob-
tain complete information on the trace elements occurring in water, including those 
present in sub-ppb concentrations.  
Drinking water contamination with metals is important environmental issue as some 
are toxic even at low concentrations [11]-[13]. From the rare metals analyzed in this 
study, antimony Sb, cerium Ce, thallium Tl [14], which are heavy metals, are of concern 
because of occupational or residential exposure. Heavy metals are well known to be 
toxic to human beings as they are not metabolized by the body and so accumulate in 
the soft tissues. These metals may enter the human body via different routes and in-
cluding water [15] [16]. 
This work is a continuation of a previous work where metal contamination of the 
harvested rain water of Gaza strip in Palestine was assessed by analysis of different 
heavy metals (Ba, Cu, Zn, Co, Mn, V, Al, Pb, Cr, Ni, As, U, and Cd) and results showed 
that 8 trace metals is higher than the allowed WHO limits in drinking water. The 
present paper reports analytical results for some rare metals (Rb, Zr, Ti, Tl, Sb, Sc, Y), 
and rare earth metals (La, and Ce) which have no maximum allowed concentrations by 
WHO or any other regulation agencies. 
2. Experimental 
2.1. Study Area 
First, Gaza Strip is a strip of land on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, located 
in the Middle East (at latitudes 31˚16"N and 31˚45"N and longitudes 34˚20"E and 
34˚25"E) [17] bordered by the Mediterranean Sea in the West and the Negev Desert 
and Egyptian Sinai Peninsula in the South with a total area of 365 Km2. For administra-
tive purposes; the area has been divided into five regions: North, Gaza, Middle, Khan 
Younis and Rafah. Each governorate consists of municipalities that varied in number 
depending on the number of towns or villages and the population of each. Gaza Strip is 
one of the most densely populated areas in the world, 4505 people per km2.  
Gaza’s water resources are essentially limited to that part of the coastal aquifer that 
M. A. Al-Qutob, F. Al-Rimawi 
 
907 
underlies its area [18]. 
Regarding the topography of Gaza strip, it is a coastal foreshore plain according to a 
Topography that refers to the altitude of the land surface. The topography of the area is 
flat, where the altitude of the Gaza Strip land surface ranges between zero meters at the 
shore line to about 90 meters above means sea level in some places. The height increas-
es towards the east from 20 to 90 meter above the sea level.  
Generally; the climate of Palestine is of East Mediterranean type; identified as being 
hot and humid in a summer and cold in winter. The US Environmental Agency has 
classified regions into arid and non-arid regions based on rainfall of 12.5 in/yr (312.5 
mm/year) to be the reference [19].  
The area has a Mediterranean dry summer sub topical climate with mild winter; this 
is because of its locations as transitional zone between semi-humid Mediterranean cli-
mate and arid desert climate. The highest mean annual temperature is 30.85˚C in Au-
gust, while the lowest mean annual temperature is 13.50˚C in January, with the mean 
annual temperature of 19.90˚C [20]. 
2.2. Sampling and Analysis 
The Sampling has been carried out in November 2012 (the beginning of the rain sea-
son) where 43 water samples were collected from 43 house wells and rain water pools. 
Figure 1 shows the location of the part of Gaza where the samples were taken, and the 
location of the cisterns analyzed in this study. The water samples were collected in 
1-liter high density polyethylene bottles (pre-cleaned with 10% nitric acid followed by  
 
 
Figure 1. Map of gaza strip showing the location of house wells and rain water pools 
(marked with *) containing harvested rain water analyzed in this work. 
M. A. Al-Qutob, F. Al-Rimawi 
 
908 
repeated rinsing with bi-distilled water), stabilized with ultrapure nitric acid (0.5% 
HNO3), preserved in a cool place (about 4˚C) and transported to the lab of AlQuds 
University for further analysis. 
For accurate quantitative determination of heavy metals in water samples, an internal 
standard method was used using Nd as internal standard and a multi-standard calibra-
tion method (29 metals standard, matrix 5% HNO3). Samples were prepared by dilution 
of 1.0 ml of the water samples to 10.0 mL with 0.3% ultrapure nitric acid and analyzed 
by ICP/MS. Each sample was analyzed three times and the results are expressed as 
mean ± SD (SD: standard deviation). Relative standard deviation (RSD) of the three 
results are calculated and found to be less than 5% for all samples for all heavy metals 
analyzed in this study, reflecting the precision of the method for the analysis of these 
heavy metals. Calibration curves for all heavy metals analyzed were constructed by 
plotting the ratio of the intensity of the analyte heavy metal to that of the internal stan-
dard vs. concentration of the heavy metal (in ppb), and results showed that the calibra-
tion curves are linear with correlation coefficient (r2) greater than 0.999 for the heavy 
metals analyzed with a concentration range of 1 - 1000 ppb. 
2.3. The Instrument 
The Agilent Technologies 7500 Series ICP-MS (Agilent 7500) can measure trace ele-
ments as low as one part per trillion (ppt) and quickly scan more than 70 elements to 
determine the composition of an unknown sample with a Mass Hunter Workstation 
software automates the analysis and accurately interprets the resulting data. The 
ICP/MS instrument consists of an on-board peristaltic pump that controls the flow of 
sample solution into and waste (drain) out of the instrument, a nebulizer (Micro Mist 
nebulizer) that uses a stream of argon to disperse the sample, an ICP Argon plasma 
torch using Argon as plasma gas, auxillary gas and nebulizer (carrier) gas, two pumps 
for evacuation, Quadrupole mass analyzer with unit resolution, an octapole reaction 
system (ORS), and electron multiplier detector. 
3. Results and Discussion 
Before this study was conducted to investigate the quality of harvested rainwater from 
Gaza in November 2012 in terms of their trace rare metals content since harvested 
rainwater is used for drinking and agriculture in Gaza as Gaza is located in the semiarid 
region and it is one of the scarce water countries in Middle East. Additionally this study 
was conducted to monitor rare metals in harvested rain water as there are no sufficient 
studies conducted on the concentration of such rare metals in water (ground, drinking, 
harvested water). 
The detection limits of the studied metals are reported in Table 1, and are three 
times the standard deviation estimated from six replicate measurements of the blank 
(1% v/v HNO3). The detection limits by ICP-MS range between 0.01 and 0.10 ppb for 
the trace metals analyzed in this study.  
ICP/MS analysis results showed that all trace metals (Rb, Zr, Ti, Tl, Sb, Sc, Y, La, Ce)  
M. A. Al-Qutob, F. Al-Rimawi 
 
909 
Table 1. Concentration (in ppb) of different rare metals detected in harvested rainwater analyzed 
in this study. 
Metal LOD (ppb) 
Minimum 
(ppb) 
Median 
(ppb) 
Maximum 
(ppb) 
Average 
(ppb) SD Limits 
Rb 0.01 0.77 6.41 49.07 7.84 7.92 No limits 
Zr 0.01 0.12 0.96 13.21 2.1 3.1 No limits 
Ti 0.02 0.83 4.31 1537.5 60.4 236.2 No limits 
Tl 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.06 0.014 0.013 No limits 
Sb 0.04 0.14 1.09 8.16 1.60 1.72 No limits 
Sc 0.05 0.08 0.57 10.05 1.25 2.25 No limits 
Y 0.10 0.27 2.40 128.71 12.15 26.43 No limits 
La 0.01 0.16 2.03 89.32 9.17 18.81 No limits 
Ce 0.01 0.34 4.19 153.30 16.70 33.72 No limits 
 
were detected in all water samples analyzed in this study. All of them are heavy metals 
except Rb, and Sb (they are metals but not heavy metals). The concentration (in ppb) of 
these metals were found to be in the range of: 0.77 - 49.07, 0.12 - 13.21, 0.83 - 1537.5, 
0.02 - 0.06, 0.14 - 8.16, 0.08 - 10.05, 0.27 - 128.71, 0.16 - 89.32, and 0.34 - 153.30, for Rb, 
Zr, Ti, Tl, Sb, Sc, Y, La, and Ce respectively, see Table 1.  
Table 1 summarizes concentrations (minimum, median, maximum, average, and 
standard deviation) of the trace metals (Rb, Zr, Ti, Tl, Sb, Sc, Y, La, and Ce) for the 
harvested rainwater samples analyzed in this study. As it is seen from this table, there is 
a significant difference between the average and median values indicating that there are 
differences in the concentrations of the metals in the water samples analyzed in this 
study. A one way ANOVA statistical test was used to test if the concentration of metals 
is significantly different in the 43 water samples analyzed. Results showed that all met-
als concentrations are significantly different in the 43 water samples at 95% confidence 
level. This indicates that these water samples are different from each other in terms of 
heavy metals concentration. This result confirms locational variations of heavy metals 
in the water samples analyzed in this study. Figures 2-4 shows the concentration of Tl, 
Sb, and Ce detected in the 43 water samples analyzed in this study. 
No drinking water standards are defined by EU, WHO or US EPA for these metals. 
Several of these metals have documented health effects [21]. For others, for example the 
rare earth elements, knowledge about health effects are rather limited [21]. However all 
of these metals are detected in all harvested rainwater samples analyzed in this study. 
Additionally, some of these metals are unexpectedly and surprisingly detected with 
high concentrations e.g. Ti, Ce, Y, see Table 1. In addition to the potential pollution of 
harvested rainwater with these rare metals, the concentrations of these elements which 
are low in natural waters, are of particular interest to fingerprint the water sources [22]. 
4. Conclusion 
High concentrations are observed for a number of rare metals for which no maximum  
M. A. Al-Qutob, F. Al-Rimawi 
 
910 
 
Figure 2. Concentrations of thallium (Tl) detected in the 43 water samples analyzed 
in this study by ICP-MS. 
 
 
Figure 3. Concentrations of antinomy (Sb) detected in the 43 water samples ana-
lyzed in this study by ICP-MS. 
 
 
Figure 4. Concentrations of antinomy (Ce) detected in the 43 water samples 
analyzed in this study by ICP-MS. 
0.00
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43
Sample number
Concentration
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
8.00
9.00
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43
Sample number
Concentration
0.00
20.00
40.00
60.00
80.00
100.00
120.00
140.00
160.00
180.00
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43
Sample number
Concentration
M. A. Al-Qutob, F. Al-Rimawi 
 
911 
allowed concentration values have been proposed (e.g., Ti, Ce, and Y). These metals 
may warrant a toxicological assessment. These metals need urgent attention from a 
health perspective. Public authorities might be well advised to establish maximum al-
lo-wed limits for such metals. This study demonstrates the necessity of documenting 
natural metal concentrations and variation in drinking water resources on a regional 
scale. This must be carried out for as many elements as can be analyzed with today’s 
techniques in different water sources, to provide finger-prints of the different types of 
water.   
Acknowledgements 
The authors are grateful to the Association of Arab Universities for their financial sup-
port. The authors would like also to thank the volunteers at MECA (Middle East 
Children’s Alliance) who worked tirelessly on short notice to mobilize volunteers and 
collect water samples across the entire Gaza strip during the first rain after the bomb-
ings in November, 2012. 
References 
[1] EU (European Union) Directive 98/83/EC on the Quality of Water Intended for Human 
Consumption. OJ, L330, December 1998.  
[2] Misund, A., Frengstad, B., Siewers, U. and Reimann, C. (1999) Natural Variation of 66 
Elements in European Mineral Waters. Science Total Environment, 243, 21-41.   
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0048-9697(99)00307-1 
[3] Batayneh, A.T. (2010) Heavy Metals in Water Springs of the Yarmouk Basin, North Jordan 
and Their Potentiality in Health Risk Assessment. International Journal of the Physical 
Sciences, 5, 997-1003. 
[4] Abderahman, N. and Abu-Rukah, Y. (2006) An Assessment Study of Heavy Metal. Envi-
ronmental Geology, 49, 1116-1124. 
[5] Adekunle, I.M., Adetunji, M.T., Gbadebo, A.M. and Banjoko, O.B. (2007) Assessment of 
Groundwater Quality in a Typical Rural Settlement in Southwest Nigeria. International 
Journal of Environmental research and Public Health, 4, 307-318. 
[6] Chen, C., Kao, C., Chen, C. and Dong, C. (2007) Distribution and Accumulation of Heavy 
Metals in the Sediments of Kaohsiung Harbor, Taiwan. Chemosphere, 66, 1431-1440.  
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.09.030 
[7] Kim, I. and Kim, G. (2011) Large Fluxes of Rare Earth Elements through Submarine 
Groundwater Discharge (SGD) from a Volcanic Island, Jeju, Korea. Marine Chemistry, 127, 
12-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2011.07.006 
[8] Janssen, R.P. and Verweij, W. (2003) Geochemistry of Some Rare Earth Elements in 
Groundwater, Vierlingsbeek, The Netherlands. Water Research, 37, 1320-1350.   
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0043-1354(02)00492-X 
[9] Gruau, G.G., Dia, A., Olivie-Lauquet, G., Davranche, M. and Pinay, G. (2004) Controls on 
the Distribution of Rare Earth Elements in Shallow Ground Waters. Water Research, 38, 
3576-3586. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2004.04.056 
[10] Rasheed, M.A., Radha, B.A., SrinivasaRao, P.L., Lakshmi, M., Chennaiah, J.B. and Dayal, 
A.M. (2012) Evaluation of Potable Groundwater Quality in Some Villages of Adilabad in 
Andhra Pradesh, India. Journal of Environmental Biology, 33, 689-693.  
M. A. Al-Qutob, F. Al-Rimawi 
 
912 
[11] Momodu, M.A. and Anyakora, C.A. (2010) Heavy Metal Contamination of Ground Water: 
The Surulere Case Study. Research Journal Environmental and Earth Sciences, 2, 39-43.  
[12] Vodela, J.K., Renden, J.A., Lenz, S.D., McElhenney, W. and Kemppainen, B. (1997) Drink-
ing Water Contaminants (Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, Benzene, and Trichloroethylene). 1. 
Interaction of Contaminants with Nutritional Status on General Performance and Immune 
Function in Broiler Chickens. Poultry Science, 76, 1474-92.  
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ps/76.11.1474 
[13] Marcovecchio, J.E., Botte, S.E. and Freije, R.H. (2007) Heavy Metals, Major Metals, Trace 
Elements. In: Nollet, L.M., Ed., Handbook of Water Analysis, 2nd Edition. CRC Press, 
London, 275. http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/9781420006315.ch11 
[14] Ferner, D.J. (2001) Toxicity and Heavy Metals. eMedicine Journal, 2 ,1. 
[15] Roberts, H. (1999) Lead Poisoning. http://www.setlet.com   
[16] Dupler, D. (2001) Heavy Metal Poisoning. Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine, 
Farmington Hills, Gale Group.  
[17] Aish, A. and Smedt, De. (2004) Hydro Geological Study and Artificial Recharge Modeling 
of the Gaza Coastal Aquifer Using GIS and MODFLOW. Ph.D. Thesis, Vrije Universiteit 
Brussel, Brussels.  
[18] Al-Talmas, M. and Mogheir, Y. (2012) Risk Assessment and Mitigation of the Seawater In-
trusion Using Modeling Approach, Islamic University of Gaza, Gaza Strip, Palestine. 
[19] Ashour, E. and Al-Najar, H. (2012) The Impact of Climate Change and Soil Salinity in Irri-
gation Water Demand in the Gaza Strip. Journal of Earth Science & Climatic Change, 3, 
120. http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2157-7617.1000120 
[20] Khalaf, A. (2005) Assessment of Rainwater Losses due to Urban Expansion of Gaza Strip. 
M.Sc. Thesis, The Islamic University, Gaza. 
[21] Reimanna, C., Bjorvatnb, K., Frengstada, B., Melakuc, Z., Tekle-Haimanotc, R. and Sie-
wersd, U. (2003) Drinking Water Quality in the Ethiopian Section of the East African Rift 
Valley I—Data and Health Aspects. The Science of the Total Environment, 311, 65-80.   
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0048-9697(03)00137-2 
[22] Smedley, P.L. and Kinniburgh, D.G. (2002) A Review of the Source, Behavior and Distribu-
tion of Arsenic in Natural Waters. Applied Geochemistry, 17, 517-568.   
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0883-2927(02)00018-5 
 
  


Analysis of Different Rare Metals, and Rare Earth Metals in Harvested Rain Water in Gaza Strip/Palestine by ICP/MS-Data and Health Aspects

https://dspace.alquds.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12213/836/RES_30_JOURNAL_JWARP_2016090815251977-1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Analysis of Different Rare Metals, and Rare Earth Metals in Harvested Rain Water in Gaza Strip/Palestine by ICP/MS-Data and Health Aspects

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Al-Quds University Digital Repository