Unveiling rare earth elements in beers: evidence for gadolinium contamination
Aéla Bordeneuve-Pérès, Jean-Alix Barrat, Germain Bayon, Marie-Laure Rouget, Raphaël Tripier, Douraied Ben Salem
Food Chemistry,  2025, 30,145953, DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.145953

Despite evidence that rare earth elements have become emerging environmental micropollutants, their distribution in food and beverages remains poorly documented. Rare earth element (REE) concentrations in freshwater or organic matter are usually very low, thereby requiring specific analytical protocols to allow for precise and accurate elemental abundance analyses. Here, we report on a routine procedure for the determination of REE concentrations in beers and in sugar-rich drinks. Our exploratory investigation indicates relatively low, but varying, REE abundances in beers (n = 30), and in an energy drink. The resulting shale-normalized REE patterns display both positive or negative Ce anomalies, and positive Y anomalies. Importantly, many studied samples exhibit positive anomalies in gadolinium, hence pointing towards the presence of anthropogenic sources. Additionally, a few samples show significant Pr excess, which we interpret as being linked to industrial pollution. These results demonstrate that REE contamination, albeit in relatively small amounts, is now common in industrially-produced beverages including beers and sugar-rich drinks.