Think Before You Drink: Arsenic in Apple Juice

Posted by admin on April 20, 2010

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Earth Week marks a fitting end to the recent hiatus…Eco Tuesdays is active again!

A recent study commissioned by the St. Petersburg Times tested arsenic levels in several commercial brands of apple juice. Arsenic is a heavy metal known to cause many types of cancer.

The study found that most brands of apple juice contained some level of arsenic. Alarmingly, the arsenic levels in more than 25% of the brands tested exceeded the FDA’s ‘level of concern’ of 23 parts per billion. Motts, Apple & Eve Organics, & Wal-Mart’s apple juice contained 25 to35 ppb of arsenic. Many more brands exceeded the EPA and World Health Organization (WHO) limit of 10 ppb for arsenic in drinking water. Juicy Juice, Minute Maid, Tree Top, and Target’s Market Pantry apple juice contained 12 to 24 ppb.

The results of this study aligned with another recent study conducted by the University of Arizona which demonstrated that 9 out of 10 samples of apple and grape juice contained 10 to 47 ppb of arsenic.