Although food preservatives are highly used in the industry, it is imperative to explore their impact in living organisms. The metabolic profile of food preservatives is needed to assess the outcomes and risks of their indiscriminate use in human health. In this project, an acute toxicity test was done to determine the effect of two common food preservatives, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and sodium benzoate, in <i>Daphnia magna</i>. Samples of five specimens were placed in different plates and exposed to different diluted solutions (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%) of 0.025 M of BHT and 0.1 M of sodium benzoate. Organisms exposed to the diluted solutions of BHT did not show any changes in behavior patterns. However, after 24 hours of exposure, their survival rate was significantly decreased. Exposure to sodium benzoate resulted in an increased hyperactivity in the first 10 minutes at higher concentrations followed by low activity and minimum movements after 15 minutes. After 24 hours, all the organisms exposed to sodium benzoate perished. The data show that diluted solutions of small concentrations of food preservatives have a significant impact on the behavior and survival rate of living organisms. Sodium benzoate has a more detrimental effect than BTH during the same time of exposure. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effect of variations in pH during the time of exposure.

Effect of common food preservatives, Butylatedhydroxytoluene (BHT) and sodium benzoate, on the survival rate and behavior of <i>Daphnia magna</i>

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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Effect of common food preservatives, Butylatedhydroxytoluene (BHT) and sodium benzoate, on the survival rate and behavior of Daphnia magna