"Determination of Lead in Tap and Drinking Water by Anodic Stripping Voltammetry"

Lee Alderman
Mentor: Dr. Randolph K. Larsen III
St. Mary's College of Maryland, 2004- 2005

The purpose of the experiment is to test several samples of tap/drinking water at St. Mary's College for the presence of lead. As many people know, drinking water is a common source of exposure to this toxic metal. Anodic Stripping Voltammetry was used to determine the presence of lead in drinking water samples taken from the college. Lead was not detectible in most samples. Fortunately, none of the samples that have lead levels were above the E.P.A. 15 parts per billion (ppb) limit. The sample with the highest concentration of lead was collected from Schaefer Lab. The concentration of lead in Schaefer Hall drink water was 3.4ppb.