SURVEY OF BENZENE IN FOODS BY USING HEADSPACE CONCENTRATION TECHNIQUES AND CAPILLARY GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY

Recently, the combination of sodium or potassium benzoate with ascorbi c acid was shown to produce low levels (ng/g) of benzene in fruit-flav ored soft drinks. The presence of benzene also was reported in butter, eggs, meat, and certain fruits; levels of these findings ranged from 0.5 ng/g in buffer to 500-1900 ng/g in eggs. Because benzoates are wid ely used as food preservatives, a limited survey of other foods contai ning added benzoate salts was conducted to investigate the potential f or benzene formation. Selected foods that did not contain added benzoa tes but were previously reported to contain benzene were analyzed for comparison. More than 50 foods were analyzed by purge-and-trap or stat ic headspace concentration and capillary gas chromatography. Benzene w as quantitated by using the method of standard additions, and its iden tity was confirmed by mass selective detection. Results of this limite d survey show that foods without added benzoates (including eggs) cont ained benzene at levels equal to or less than 2 ng/g. Slightly higher levels were present in some foods and beverages containing both ascorb ic acid and sodium benzoate.