Safe concentration of lead in community drinking water in the Tapak River area, Tugu City District, Semarang

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 perevent rsuting. It is highly dangerous for living things as it has carciogenic properties, can cause mutations, and relatively takes long time to decay and it 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, Centra 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 measurenment result show that the concentraion of Lead (Pb) is 0.003 mb/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 Polluution Control. This means that the concentration of lead in river water as stated in 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 Tapakan river water will not increase.