Essential and Non-Essential Metals in Soft Drinks Consumed and Sold In Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Essential and Non-Essential metals, soft drinks, Atomic Absorption, Port Harcourt.

Authors

  • Ubong I.U. 1Institute of Pollution studies (IPS),Rivers State University of Science and Tech.Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Nigeria
  • Obunwo C. Dept. of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Nkpolu, Oroworukwu, Port-Harcourt, Nigeria
  • Faafa A. Dept. of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Nkpolu, Oroworukwu, Port-Harcourt, Nigeria
August 11, 2016

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Some essential (Iron Fe, Zinc Zn, Copper, Cu) and non-essential (Cadmium, Cd, and Nickel, Ni, Lead, Pb) metal concentrations were determined in canned and bottled samples of different soft drinks sold and consumed in Port Harcourt. The aim was to determine the levels of these metals in the common soft drinks generally consumed in Port Harcourt. Analysis was done by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The mean concentrations of heavy metals were in the order Fe>Zn>Pb>Cu. The result showed Iron concentration ranged from 0.60 mg/l in LCSD to 3.67 mg/l in MGD, followed by AMD with a value of 3.215 mg/l. Iron mean concentration was 2.20±1.2 mg/l. The highest iron content was in MGD (3.67 mg/l) while the lowest was in LCSD drink (0.60 mg/l). Zinc ranged from 0.10 mg/l in CCD to 0.40 mg/l in MGD. The mean concentration was 0.194±0.12 mg/l. The levels of Copper, Cadmium, Lead, and Nickel found in all of the five (5) soft drink brands were below detectable levels (<0.001mg/l). Iron had the highest concentration of metals followed by Zinc and the two exceeded the WHO limits of 0.3 and 0.2 mg/l limits.