also does fruit juice contain enough vitamin C / ascorbic acid to convert sodium benzoate to benzene, at he right temperature?
2006-11-25 02:44:35 · 5 answers · asked by Les 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
Benzene forms when ascorbic acid, the vitamin C added to many beverages, reacts with either sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate, two common preservatives that companies add to their products to prevent bacterial growth.
Unfortunately I don't know about the pH but it must be very near 7 (just below) because ascorbic acid is a very weak acid and hardly ionsises to form H+.
2006-11-25 03:12:08 · answer #1 · answered by notscientific 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You will have to mix sodium benzoate with an alkali to convert it to benzene. It is fairly basic pH, I will say 12-14.
I believe the reaction between ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate is under study and there are no definitive answers except that there is a very good chance that benzene in soft drinks is coming from this reaction. Several soft drinks have been apparently reformulated without sodium benzoate.
2006-11-25 11:07:36 · answer #2 · answered by Dr. J. 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm sure you are talking about the soft drink "scare". Most soft drinks run pH 3-6. Note that light and/or temperature are needed for this conversion and that sugar and EDTA in soft drinks inhibit the reaction. The latest FDA release still reports this is not a concern. Interesting to note is that the data shows where it is found is mostly in "healthy" drink samples such as flavored bottled waters.
2006-11-25 11:46:16 · answer #3 · answered by Peter Boiter Woods 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Normally one would want to look up "decarboxylation", which is under much more extreme conditions that in fruit juice!
2006-11-25 11:18:37 · answer #4 · answered by Gervald F 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i THINK ITS about 3-4 ph if more or less it will react differently
2006-11-25 11:50:23 · answer #5 · answered by soni m 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋