Model studies of migration from paper and board into fruit and vegetables and into Tenax as a food simulant.
Four samples of paper and board (P/B) of a type used for packaging dry foods were subjected to migration tests using mushrooms, apples, potatoes and bananas, and using the polymeric powder Tenax as a food simulant. The P/B samples contained only low levels of diisopropylnaphthalene (DiPN) and diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP) and so the experiments were conducted after impregnating the P/B with added model substances. These were o-xylene, acetophenone, dodecane, benzophenone, DiPN and DiBP. Migration levels depended strongly on the nature of the substance and on the nature of the food and much less on the characteristics of the P/B, except insofar as they affected the contact area - flexible papers giving more extensive contact with the food than thick rigid board. Migration into Tenax was at least a factor of 10 higher than migration into the fresh fruit and vegetables. The food samples were placed in contact with the P/B and then overwrapped loosely with aluminium foil and so this correction factor will tend to be conservative compared with a more open storage of the packed foods. Washing, peeling or cooking the fruits and vegetables after contact with the P/B had a surprisingly small effect on contaminant levels in general, and no one processing step was effective in giving a significant reduction of all the types of chemicals studied. This was because either they had penetrated into the food (so resisting peeling), or were not freely water-soluble (so resisting washing) or were not particularly volatile (so resisting loss by evaporation during cooking).
a The Food and Environment Research Agency , Sand Hutton , York , UK.
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Bradley
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Castle
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Speck
D003296:Cooking; D003993:Dibutyl Phthalate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005511:Food Handling; D018857:Food Packaging; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009281:Naphthalenes / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D010209:Paper; D011108:Polymers; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D014675:Vegetables / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity
D006838:Hydrocarbons; D009281:Naphthalenes; D011108:Polymers; C018520:2,6-diisopropylnaphthalene; D003993:Dibutyl Phthalate; C010514:tenax; C025605:diisobutyl phthalate
correction factors; fruits; migration; packaging; paper and board; vegetables