The analysis of benzene contaminant in Thai commercial non-alcoholic beverages by Headspace Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry

Forty eight (48) Thai commercial non-alcoholic beverages were collected nationwide. Benzoic acid and ascorbic acid were quantified employing HPLC-UV analysis, whereas benzene was quantified using headspace gas chromatography mass spectrometry (HS-GC/MS) analysis. Benzene was found in 13 products (27.08%) varying from 5.47 to 16.91 mg/L), whereas 4 samples (8.33%) were above international regulation limit (more than 10 mg/L). After re-collection of water sources and final products of these 15 products, results were found as not detected after treatment of raw water and final product at day 0. However, benzene was found significantly after kept at 30°C for 30 days. Pearson’s correlation coefficient between each parameter to benzene was not significant at 95% confidence and PLS1 shows very low regression coefficient among these parameters. This work had found that the formation of benzene in samples was not resulted from their water origin, but was formed by other ingredients, which were catalyzed by storage time and conditions.