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I was wandering if it is possible for soda to be contaminated by viruses/bacteria originating from water that was used to produce it. I have to specific questions:

  1. Can jaundice virus/bacteria survive in soda?(carbonated water)
  2. Can hepatitis virus/bacteria survive in soda? (carbonated water).

Please note the water is lake/well water and it is untreated water, non-chlorinated and has not undergone any type of purification . The only thing added to water mentioned here is the carbondioxide added to make it soda.

So is there a possibility for jaundice or hepatitis bacteria/virus to be present in soda water and if somebody drink that soda, he catch those diseases?

I am concerned as a soda consumer.

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  • If bacteria can survive in carbonation , what about the brain eating amoeba ? Can it live in something carbonated( Topo Chico water bottle) since it doesn’t say how it’s cleaned or purify?
    – Tiny Toon
    Commented Mar 2, 2019 at 2:44

1 Answer 1

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Jaundice isn't caused directly by viruses. It's caused by a buildup of bilirubin in the blood. Clasped in the hemoglobin molecules in your blood cells is a pigment called porphyrin, which is not water soluble and can be toxic. The liver assists in breaking down those pigments into dozens of more water soluble parts that make up bilirubin so they can be flushed out in the urine. These parts are yellowish, which is why people with jaundice look yellow, and why pee is yellow, etc. Jaundice happens when the liver isn't keeping up, which can be a result of hepatitis.

Viruses in general are very fragile and cannot survive long in the presence of oxygen or acidic things like soda, or even in direct sunlight due to ultraviolet radiation. Even most airborne viruses require aerosol droplets like in a sneeze to live long outside of a body. Viruses generally cant survive high levels of oxidative stress themselves, (even though once they have infected a cell, many viruses reproduce better when the cell itself is under oxidative stress.)

Bacteria could possibly live in these conditions though. There are bacteria that can survive really harsh conditions. Some heartburn is said to be caused by bacteria called H. Pylori that can live in the crazy acidic conditions of the stomach. Some rod shape bacterial are hard to kill because they have tough little clones of themselves in their bodies called endospores that have been known to survive boiling water for long periods of time.

So the short version, viruses have almost zero chance of surviving in soda, but it might possible for bacteria to do it if it got really contaminated somehow. Also, if a well gets really contaminated with feces, there is a possibility of getting Hepatitis A.

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