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Posted by [email protected] (Laura Weisman) on December 14, 2011 at 10:16 am
Mountain Dew has a flame retardant in it.
There’s BVO in there. What’s BVO, you say? It’s a flame retardant for plastics, aka brominated vegetable oil. It’s banned in Europe and Japan. But it’s there in your Mountain Dew. And your Squirt, Fanta Orange, Sunkist Pineapple, Gatorade Thirst Quencher (only orange flavor), Powerade Strawberry Lemonade and Fresca Original Citrus.
Is this a bad thing, necessarily? Depends on who’s talking.
The FDA has set safety limits on it, but the Environmental Health News, a group of online journalists, have issued a report saying this chemical has had a cloudy history.
Gizmodo.com reports:
"According to the Environmental Health News, BVO contains “bromine atoms which weigh down the citrus flavoring so it mixes with sugar water” instead of floating to the top." Basically, BVO gives soda more consistent flavoring. That sounds good! But BVO is also added to polystyrene foam cushions in furniture and plastics in electronics because BVO can slow down the chemical reactions that cause a fire. Yuck. Is that what we want to be drinking?
Environmental Health News is reporting that there is renewed interest in reassessing BVO because of reports like this:
"After a few extreme soda binges – not too far from what many video gamers regularly consume – a few patients have needed medical attention for skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders, all symptoms of overexposure to bromine. Other studies suggest that BVO could be building up in human tissues. In mouse studies, big doses caused reproductive and behavioral problems."
Brominated flame retardants lately are under intense scrutiny because research has shown that they are building up in people’s bodies, including breast milk, around the world.
Mountain Dew has a flame retardant in it.
There’s BVO in there. What’s BVO, you say? It’s a flame retardant for plastics, aka brominated vegetable oil. It’s banned in Europe and Japan. But it’s there in your Mountain Dew. And your Squirt, Fanta Orange, Sunkist Pineapple, Gatorade Thirst Quencher (only orange flavor), Powerade Strawberry Lemonade and Fresca Original Citrus.
Is this a bad thing, necessarily? Depends on who’s talking.
The FDA has set safety limits on it, but the Environmental Health News, a group of online journalists, have issued a report saying this chemical has had a cloudy history.
Gizmodo.com reports:
"According to the Environmental Health News, BVO contains “bromine atoms which weigh down the citrus flavoring so it mixes with sugar water” instead of floating to the top." Basically, BVO gives soda more consistent flavoring. That sounds good! But BVO is also added to polystyrene foam cushions in furniture and plastics in electronics because BVO can slow down the chemical reactions that cause a fire. Yuck. Is that what we want to be drinking?
Environmental Health News is reporting that there is renewed interest in reassessing BVO because of reports like this:
"After a few extreme soda binges – not too far from what many video gamers regularly consume – a few patients have needed medical attention for skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders, all symptoms of overexposure to bromine. Other studies suggest that BVO could be building up in human tissues. In mouse studies, big doses caused reproductive and behavioral problems."
Brominated flame retardants lately are under intense scrutiny because research has shown that they are building up in people’s bodies, including breast milk, around the world.
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