Carcinogenic chemical found in French and British sodas.

Source: Times Online.co.uk

Who really knows what the quality standards are for the liquids that go into the sodas we all have grown to love?

Well, the British and the French do--a cancer-causing agent, Benzene, which has been linked to leukemia and other cancers of the blood.

Britain

The Times March 02, 2006

Soft drinks found to have high levels of cancer chemical
By Rajeev Syal

Traces of a carcinogenic chemical have been found in soft drinks at eight times the level permitted in drinking water, it was revealed last night.

Tests conducted on 230 drinks on sale in Britain and France have identified high levels of benzene, a compound known to cause cancer, according to the Food Standards Agency. There is a legal limit of one part per billion of benzene in British drinking water. The latest tests revealed levels of up to eight parts per billion in some soft drinks.

Benzene has been linked to leukemia and other cancers of the blood. Traces found in Perrier water 15 years ago led to the withdrawal of more than 160 million bottles worldwide. The disclosure has prompted food safety campaigners to demand that the Government reveal which products contain benzene. At present, the drinks' identities have not been revealed.

The cancerous agent, Benzene, which is being reported at 8 parts per billion--way above the 1 parts per billion, the safe standard.

BENZENE FACTS

* Michael Faraday discovered benzene in 1825 when he isolated it from oil gas to form a chemical, six parts carbon, six parts hydrogen.

* It is produced during incomplete combustion of carbon-rich substances: it is produced from petrochemicals, but occurs naturally in volcanoes, forest fires and in cigarette smoke.

* In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was used in aftershave, for its pleasant smell, and to decaffeinate coffee. It is now used as an anti-knock agent in petrol.

* It is an aggressive carcinogen and may lead to leukemia and other cancers of the blood.

* In 1993, Professor Glenn Lawrence, of Long Island University, published research showing that the sodium benzoate and vitamin C found in soft drinks could react to form benzene. He suggested that drink companies were putting vitamin C into drinks to encourage customers to buy them.

So what we now have is a conundrum.

Somewhere in the backs of our minds, we wonder if the tap water we drink is safe. Now, people have the same safety concerns about processed soda.

I guess everyone should get a pint and get plastered till we finally decide what is safe and what isn't.

In this age of lack of responsibility and cooperate governance, we really can't trust anything we put into our bodies that we don't cook or prepare ourselves. Nice.