Effect of storage on the levels of sodium benzoate in soft drinks sold in some Nigerian market with exposure and health risk assessment

Soft drinks consumption is still a controversial issue for public health and public policy, as the influence storage condition impacts taste, color and shelf life. In all, fifty (50) soft drinks samples, acquired from Enugu, Aba, Asaba, Onitsha and Owerri markets in Nigeria, were subjected to four different storage conditions namely: room temperature (RT), refrigerated (RF), 40 °C and 60 °C for 15 days after which they were analyzed for sodium benzoate concentration using HPLC – UV/Vis detector. The results showed on the average that at RT and RF, soft drinks from Aba had the highest concentration of sodium benzoate (98.7 mg/L and 112.9 mg/L) respectively while samples from Asaba had least concentration of 39.9 mg/L and 38.1 mg/L. At increased temperature of 40 °C, the concentration of sodium benzoate increased generally across the sample, while at 60 °C, the levels in all the samples analyzed were either reduced to less than 50% or below detection level, which suggest that degradation of sodium benzoate at this elevated temperature could result in benzene formation, which is a known carcinogen. Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk assessment showed that children are at risk compared to adults due to higher sodium benzoate daily intake leading to high rate of hyperactivity in correlation to malaise.