If you want some nice Benzene, just drink a softdrink

[Guest guest]

If you want some Benzene, just pick up a can of soft drink. The

sodium benzoate combines with vitamin C and forms benzene, a knonw

carcinogen and a cause of cirrhosis, Prkinston's, and more.

 

Take a look st this articel from back in May:

 

Expert links additive to cell damage

 

By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Published: 27 May 2007

 

" A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence

they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British

university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as

Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.

 

The problem - more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse -

can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative

diseases such as Parkinson's.

 

The findings could have serious consequences for the hundreds of

millions of people worldwide who consume fizzy drinks. They will also

intensify the controversy about food additives, which have been

linked to hyperactivity in children.

 

Concerns centre on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a

preservative used for decades by the £74bn global carbonated drinks

industry. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs

naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent ould

in soft drinks such as Sprite, Oasis and Dr Pepper. It is also added

to pickles and sauces.

 

Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer

because when mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it

causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance. A Food Standards Agency

survey of benzene in drinks last year found high levels in four

brands which were removed from sale.

 

Now, an expert in ageing at Sheffield University, who has been

working on sodium benzoate since publishing a research paper in 1999,

has decided to speak out about another danger. Professor Peter Piper,

a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, tested the impact

of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he

found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA

in the " power station " of cells known as the mitochondria.

 

He told The Independent on Sunday: " These chemicals have the ability

to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that

they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether.

 

" The mitochondria consumes the oxygen to give you energy and if you

damage it - as happens in a number if diseased states - then the cell

starts to malfunction very seriously. And there is a whole array of

diseases that are now being tied to damage to this DNA - Parkinson's

and quite a lot of neuro-degenerative diseases, but above all the

whole process of ageing. "

 

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) backs the use of sodium benzoate in

the UK and it has been approved by the European Union but last night,

MPs called for it to investigate urgently.

 

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat chair of Parliament's all-party

environment group said: " Many additives are relatively new and their

long-term impact cannot be certain. This preservative clearly needs

to be investigated further by the FSA. "

 

A review of sodium benzoate by the World Health Organisation in 2000

concluded that it was safe, but it noted that the available science

supporting its safety was " limited " .

 

Professor Piper, whose work has been funded by a government research

council, said tests conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration

were out of date.

 

" The food industry will say these compounds have been tested and they

are complete safe, " he said. " By the criteria of modern safety

testing, the safety tests were inadequate. Like all things, safety

testing moves forward and you can conduct a much more rigorous safety

test than you could 50 years ago. "

 

He advised parents to think carefully about buying drinks with

preservatives until the quantities in products were proved safe by

new tests. " My concern is for children who are drinking large

amounts, " he said.

 

Coca-Cola and Britvic's Pepsi Max and Diet Pepsi all contain sodium

benzoate. Their makers and the British Soft Drinks Association said

they entrusted the safety of additives to the Government. "

 

To government? Like maybe the FDA we have here?

 

 

-- In oleander soup , Michael Goebel <goebelchx

wrote:

>

> The fluoride in drinking water is unquestionably an atocity against

the citizenry.

>

> As for benzene in gasoline, that's another matter. Just about

any chemical fraction in gasoline is a carcinogen. However, it

burns! Carbon dioxide and water, with small amounts of carbon

monoxide and various other combustion products are the result. The

more efficient the combustion, the less the undesirable waste

products created.

>

> All petrochemicals that enter the water supply are toxic

products. We must limit their entry into the water supply.

>

> Benzene is nothing special.

>

> Fluoride is worse: we put it directly into our bodies!

>

>

> Dr. Goebel

>

> ed4soup <ed4636 wrote:

> It's like benzene in our gasoline. It's a known

carcinigen, yet it is

> allowed. It's a waste product of refining oil, with expensive

proper

> disposal restrictions. So, they dump it back into our gasoline,

which

> burns, and releases in into the atmosphere, saving the oil

companies

> millions in disposal costs. Some states, under pressure, have

forbiden

> the practice, ie: California. Flouride is also a waste product, I

> recall from processing aluminum from boxite ore. Dumping tons into

our

> drinking water for profit solves the problem. Yea.

>

> oleander soup , robert-blau@ wrote:

> >

> > FLUORIDE IN OUR WATER: GOVERNMENTS PUSH IT DESPITE LACK OF

EVIDENCE

> > Despite the lack of evidence for some of the more serious health

> claims,

> > it is indisputable that fluoride can cause fluorosis, a disease

that

> > damages the enamel of the tooth. Governments have been accused of

> > massaging research findings in order to present a positive

picture on

> > the safety and benefits of fluoride in our tap water.

> > http://healthy.net/scr/news.asp?id=9447

> >

 

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>