> its carcinogenic effects are now well known (no more using it to decaffeinate coffee, degrease engines, or in shaving cream, thankfully!)
I had no idea benzene was used to decaffeinate coffee [1]. Solvent separation makes sense, but I'd never really thought about it. Definitely not a residue I'd want to drink.
From an amateur chemistry perspective, benzene is so fascinating. Benzene rings are one of the first, maybe the very first, structures students learn that don't have fixed, discrete bond counts. That they can be interpreted as a cloud of 1.5-electron bonds between each of the 6 carbons, or alternating double- and single-bonds, makes for some interesting hand analysis of molecules.
This was done before roasting. Benzene is volatile even at room temperature and the roasting process almost certainly removed it all. I think the concern was more about industry workers or the environment than the consumer. And maybe about the optics of using a particularly nasty chemical to prepare your food or drink.
> its carcinogenic effects are now well known (no more using it to decaffeinate coffee, degrease engines, or in shaving cream, thankfully!)
I had no idea benzene was used to decaffeinate coffee [1]. Solvent separation makes sense, but I'd never really thought about it. Definitely not a residue I'd want to drink.
From an amateur chemistry perspective, benzene is so fascinating. Benzene rings are one of the first, maybe the very first, structures students learn that don't have fixed, discrete bond counts. That they can be interpreted as a cloud of 1.5-electron bonds between each of the 6 carbons, or alternating double- and single-bonds, makes for some interesting hand analysis of molecules.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaffeination#Direct_method
This was done before roasting. Benzene is volatile even at room temperature and the roasting process almost certainly removed it all. I think the concern was more about industry workers or the environment than the consumer. And maybe about the optics of using a particularly nasty chemical to prepare your food or drink.