Determination of some heavy metal levels in nonalcoholic beverages sold in Turkey

In this research, our aim was to determine the levels of arsenic, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead levels in canned nonalcoholic beverages which are higly consumed by teenagers and children and to evaluate whether the levels were within the Turkish Food Codex (TFC) values or not. In this study, total number of 104 samples of ten different trademarks were investigated in case of heavy metals in canned nonalcoholic beverages which were collected from several regions in Turkey which are Ankara, Sakarya, Denizli, Burdur, Yozgat, Ordu, Van, Kilis, Bolu and Adana provinces. Determination of heavy metal levels in nonalcoholic beverages have been made by ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry) method. Mean levels (±SE) of arsenic, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead were found as 0.037029 ± 0.00225 mg/kg (ppm), 0.069534 ± 0.008977 mg/kg (ppm), 0.142529 ± 0.01156 mg/kg (ppm), 0.00517 ± 0.000285 mg/kg (ppm), 0.028538 ± 0.001757 mg/kg (ppm), respectively in the nonalcoholic beverage samples. Our data revealed that arsenic, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead mean levels found in all nonalcoholic beverages which were collected from several provinces in Turkey were within the Turkish Food Codex values. Key words:Nonalcoholic beverages, Heavy metals, ICP-OES