DA INCONSISTÊNCIA DA RELAÇÃO ENTRE GRAU DE DUREZA E TEOR DE IODO EM ÁGUAS DE ABASTECIMENTO PÚBLICO

Abstract

A number of authors have reported a relationship between iodine content and the degree ·of hardness of water. Based on these findings, other investigators have claimed that relative iodine content can be estimated by simply measuring the hardness. In our study of iodine content of waters from 381 localities in the State of São Paulo, we also measured at the same time the hardness of the samples to determine whether or not there was a correlation between the two factors. The data were divided into groups on the basis of increasing hardness, and the mean of iodine content of each group calculated. Although a higher mean of iodine may be found in areas of high degree of hardness, the analysis of the data showed that owing to the great transvariation presented in those groups, it would be of no value to estimate the concentration of iodine by the degree of hardness of waters.