This master thesis presents electrolysed water, which consists of simple ingredients - water and sodium chloride - and has many advantages in various fields such as hygiene, medicine and surface disinfection. An example of electrolysed water is the ASEA® redox supplement product, where NaCl and water are transformed into active redox signalling molecules, crucial for ensuring proper cell communication and optimal immune function, as they activate the immune system to protect against bacteria, viruses and infections.
Different methods for the quantification of hypochlorite and chloride ions in samples of ASEA redox supplement electrolysed water and tap water were investigated with the aim to determine the adequacy of the product consumption in relation to the acceptable concentrations in the literature.
The concentration of NaCl determined by argentometry was 267.8 mg/100 mL in the ASEA water sample, which is comparable to the value of 270 mg/100 mL NaCl stated on the ASEA product packaging. We also calculated the chloride ion content, which was 162.4 mg/100 mL, which is too high compared to the drinking water standards, which stipulate that the chloride ion content should not exceed 25 mg/100 mL.
The hypochlorite content was determined by iodometric titration and was 0.952 µg/mL ± 0.004 µg/mL in the ASEA water sample, which was comparable to the results obtained by the UV-VIS spectrophotometric method for the determination of hypochlorite using rhodamine B, where the concentration was 1.021 ± 0.134 µg/mL, and 0.452 ± 0.133 µg/mL in the tap water sample. The method for the determination of hypochlorite by rhodamine B is based on the release of iodine from potassium iodide in an acid medium; the oxidation of iodide to iodine results in hypochlorite. The iodine released in the next step oxidises the added rhodamine B, so that the concentration of hypochlorite in the sample is inversely proportional to the absorbance of the remaining rhodamine B. All hypochlorite values obtained by both methods are within the maximum permitted levels of hypochlorite in drinking water, which is up to 5 µg/mL.
Finally, the pH of the tap water and ASEA water samples was measured using a pH meter, which shows that the ASEA water is almost neutral with a pH of 7.1, while the tap water is slightly alkaline, probably mainly due to dissolved calcium and magnesium carbonate.
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