New test detects artificial sweetener traces in German water. Sewage treatment plants fail to remove artificial sweeteners completely from waste water. What’s more, these pollutants contaminate waters downstream and may still be present in drinking water. A new robust analytical method simultaneously extracts and analyses seven commonly used artificial sweeteners.
A range of artificial sweeteners are commonly used in food and drinks, as well as drugs and sanitary products. Until now, only sucralose has been detected in aquatic environments. Through the use of a new analytical method, the researchers were able to look for seven different artificial sweeteners (cyclamate, acesulfame, saccharin, aspartame, neotame, neohesperidin dihydrochalcone and sucralose) simultaneously, and show, for the first time, that a number of commonly used artificial sweeteners are still present in treated water from sewage treatment plants.
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Chapter: Sugar :: 1 October 2009
