SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND

COMPITATIONAL SCIENCE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF LASER

SPECTROSCOPY PHYSICS(Phy-713)
DETERMINATION OF THE LEVEL OF SOME TRACE AND HEAVY
METALS IN SOME SOFT DRINKS OF ETHIOPIA

Prepared By: Marishet Tessema

Advisor: Daniel Mulugeta (PhD)

Dec,2023

Harer, Ethiopia
* INTRODUCTION

*MATERIALS AND METHOD

*RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS

*CONCLUSION
*OUT LINE
 *INTRODUCTION
*Heavy metals can be toxic to living things at certain levels.

*Heavy metals can be absorbed by plants, wildlife and people

through the food they eat.

*Heavy metals composition of foods is of interest because of their

essential or toxic nature.

*For example, iron, zinc, copper, chromium, cobalt, and

manganese are essential, while lead, cadmium, nickel, and
mercury are toxic at certain levels.
 *Cont..,
*Spectroscopy studies the interaction between electromagnetic
radiation and matter .
*Flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS) involves
vaporization and thermal atomization of a liquid sample by a
flame.
* cont.,
*According to the Turkish Food Codex (TFC), the maximum
contaminant levels of arsenic, copper, zinc, cadmium, and lead may
not exceed 0.1, 2, 2, 0.01, and 0.1 mg/kg (ppm), respectively, in soft
drinks

*Environmental pollution is the main cause for these heavy metals

contamination in the food chain

*Atmospheric contamination, the excessive use of fertilizers and

pesticides, and sewage sludge or irrigation with residual waters is
among the causes of contamination of raw foodstuffs.
 * cont..,

*The consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks is associated with

obesity, dental caries, and low nutrient levels.

*Many soft drinks contain ingredients that are themselves sources of

concern: caffeine is linked to anxiety and sleep disruption when
consumed in excess, and some critics question the health effects of
added sugars and artificial sweeteners.

*Reviews of the experimental evidence suggest that soft drink

consumption does cause weight gain, but the effect is often small
except for overweight individuals.
*Generally, any effect of heavy metals toxicity should be considered
with regards of their maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) and
maximum contaminant level (MCL).
* Cont.,
 * MATERIALS AND METHOD

*Chemicals and Reagents: (Cd(NO3)2.6H2O, 96%),

(CrCl3.6H2O, 99%), (Ni(NO3)2.7H2O, 98%), (Pb(NO3)2.6H2O,
98%) ,(Mn(NO3)2.7H2O, 96%), (CuSO4.5H2O,99%),
(HNO3,70%) , All chemicals and reagents used were analytical
grade.
*Samples collection: In this study, six different samples of soft
drink beverages i.e., Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprit, Pepsi-Cola, Mirinda
and Ambo flavor were collected from Harer market, Ethiopia
 . Instrumentation: Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS)

instruments (Brucker VGP210; USA) consisting of a hallow

cathode lamp, slit width of 0.7nm and air-acetylene/air-nitrous
oxide flame was used for this work. The samples were analyzed
at their characteristic wavelength i.e., chromium, nickel,
cadmium, lead and copper were analyzed at 357.87nm,
232.00nm, 228.8nm, 283.31nm and 324.75nm, respectively.
 * cont..,
*Sample treatment: 10 ml of Nitric acid (5M) was added for
digestion of 25 ml of soft drink sample.
* The added nitric acid removes organic material by
decomposing them into carbon dioxide (CO2) and converts
*the metal present into soluble forms according to the equation:
(CH2)n + 2HNO3 → nCO2 + 2NO + 2H2O
*The mixture was evaporated on a hot plate in a fume cupboard
until the brown fumes disappears leaving
*white fumes. 50 ml of distilled water was added and this was
concentrated by evaporation on a hot plate to 25 ml.
Subsequently, 25 ml deionized water was added to make up to
50 ml. This was then ready for AAS analysis
*cont..,
*Standard Solutions preparation: 1000 ppm of stock solution
for each metal ion was prepared in 500 mL volumetric flask by
dividing the molar mass of the compound containing the
element with the molar mass of the element which is equivalent
to 0.5 g of each metal ion.
*Sample analysis: Calibration curve was plotted. The
concentrations of the digested soft drink samples were derived
from the regression equation and the samples were analyzed in
triplicates.
*Data treatment: Difference between treatment means and
comparison of the means of the treatments in the studies was
carried out using the Fisher’s least significant difference (LSD)
test at P = 0.05 significance level
 * RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS
*For this study six soft drinks available in Harer market were obtained
Coca Cola, Sprite and Fanta, Pepsi and Mirinda and Ambo flavor.

*The regression equation and coefficient of determination (R) for the

calibration plots are shown in Table 2 .
* The maximum concentration of Cr according to international
standards of heavy metals in soft drink is 0.05ppm.

*The amounts of Cr-metal obtained experimentally in all the soft drinks

samples were higher than the values recommended by MCL value.

* In Table 3, for nickel and cadmium were non-detectable metals. Also,

manganese showed non-detectable level in 67% of the samples while
copper was non-detectable only in Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite.
* Figure 1: Calibration curve of absorbance vs.
concentration for Ni, metals
* Cont..,
 * CONCLUSION
*In this study, the level of copper, manganese and lead present in
all soft drinks were in the range of WHO permissible values.
*Our data revealed that nickel and cadmium were non-detectable
metals. In addition, manganese showed non-detectable level in
67% of the samples while copper was non-detectable only in
Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite.
*Comparing the results within each class, Cu, Mn , Ni and Cd
are below their MCL values and Cr concentration is higher in
all soft drinks sample stated by World Health Organization.
* In conclusion, agencies and soft drink producing companies
should handle this issue urgently to safe guard the health of the
people.
THANK YOU