Overview
Maduabuchi and colleagues measured arsenic and chromium in 50 canned and non-canned beverages purchased in Nigeria. The study digested beverage samples in nitric acid and quantified arsenic (As) and chromium (Cr) by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The occurrence finding is that both canned and non-canned beverage groups contained samples above the U.S. EPA drinking-water MCLs used as comparators by the authors; the paper does not perform arsenic or chromium speciation.
Key numbers
| Finding | Source-reported value |
|---|---|
| Total sample count | 50 beverage samples |
| Canned beverage count | 21 |
| Non-canned beverage count | 29 |
| Arsenic detection limit | <DL is defined as value less than 0.001 mg/L |
| Chromium detection limit | <DL is defined as value less than 0.001 mg/L |
| Canned beverage arsenic range | 0.003 to 0.161 mg/L |
| Non-canned beverage arsenic range | 0.002 to 0.261 mg/L |
| Canned beverage arsenic above source-used MCL | 33.3% exceeded 0.01 mg/L |
| Non-canned beverage arsenic above source-used MCL | 55.2% exceeded 0.01 mg/L |
| Combined arsenic exceedance | 46% of canned and non-canned beverages failed to meet the source-used U.S. EPA criterion |
| Canned beverage total chromium range | 0.04 to 0.59 mg/L |
| Non-canned beverage total chromium range | 0.01 to 0.55 mg/L |
| Canned beverage chromium above source-used MCL | 76.2% exceeded 0.10 mg/L |
| Non-canned beverage chromium above source-used MCL | 68.9% exceeded 0.10 mg/L |
| Combined chromium exceedance | 72% of canned and non-canned beverages failed to meet the source-used U.S. EPA criterion |
| Highest arsenic concentration in the study | 0.261 mg/L in the non-canned beverage group |
| Highest total chromium concentration in the study | 0.59 mg/L in the canned beverage group |
The source tables provide drink-by-drink values and commercial product names. This page reports only aggregate canned/non-canned ranges and exceedance percentages to preserve the brand firewall.
Methods (brief)
Fifty beverage samples were purchased in Nigeria in March 2005, including 21 canned and 29 non-canned beverages. Five milliliters of each sample was digested with 15 mL nitric acid, made up to 50 mL with deionized water, heated until fully digested and reduced to 10 mL, cooled, and filtered. Arsenic and chromium were analyzed with a Unicam Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer Model 929 using air-acetylene flame. Arsenic was analyzed at 193.7 nm; chromium was analyzed at 358 nm. Samples were analyzed in duplicates.
Implications
This source contributes Nigerian-market beverage occurrence data for total arsenic and total chromium in canned and non-canned beverages. It is relevant to broad beverage routing, including soft drinks, fruit drinks/juices, soy-milk beverages, and milk beverages, but it should not be used for brand ranking or for chromium speciation. The values support category-level contamination context and source retrieval for later structured beverage extraction.
Update history
The five most recent substantive edits to this page, classified major (evidence or structure moved), correction (a published value or statement was wrong and has been fixed), or minor (narrative rewritten without changing the underlying evidence). Each description is derived from what the edit did to this page; the linked commit is the authoritative record, routine regeneration passes are excluded, and the full version history lives in git.
| Commit | Date | Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| b01ec52c31 | 2026-08-04 | major | 1 section added |
| 3171d069e3 | 2026-08-02 | major | 1 section added |
| 90a2f9a38e | 2026-07-30 | major | 1 section added and 1 removed |
| eaa8eeeedf | 2026-07-27 | major | 1 section added and 1 removed |
| aca5e2155a | 2026-06-09 | major | 1 section added |