Brominated battle: Soda chemical has cloudy health history

Banned in other countries, little-known ingredient sparking renewed concerns

By Brett Israel
10:45 am, December 12, 2011 Updated: 11:02 am, December 14, 2011

 

MARIETTA, Ga. — It's Monday night at the Battle & Brew, a gamer hangout in this Atlanta suburb. The crowd is slumping in chairs, ears entombed in headphones, eyes locked on flat-screen monitors and minds lost in tonight’s video game of choice: "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim."

To help stay alert all night, each man has an open can of "gamer fuel" inches from his keyboard. "I've seen some of these dudes plow through six sodas in six hours," said Brian Smawley, a regular at the gamer bar.