Risk assessment of benzene in food samples of Iran's market

Abstract The concentration of benzene in ninety-eight collected food and drink samples (carbonated beverage, fruit juice, pickle, lime juice, mayonnaise and salad dressing, 16 samples from each) from Iran local markets were investigated using gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Moreover, the correlation of benzene concentration with sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid concentrations was assessed. Benzene concentration in carbonated beverages, fruit juices, pickle, lime juices, mayonnaise and salad dressing were 3.57 ± 1.70, 5.17 ± 3.63, 4.37 ± 2.24, 4.99 ± 0.54, 1.38 ± 0.87 and 1.47 ± 0.83 μg/L, respectively, being in all cases below the acceptable limit (10 μ…