Determination of partition behavior of organic surrogates between paperboard packaging materials and air

An emission model for inhalable chemicals from children's play mats based on partition coefficients

Inhalable chemicals found in children's play mats can be slowly released into indoor environments and consequently threaten human health. In this study, the partition coefficients of seven inhalable chemicals between play mats and air were calculated by headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry based on the law of conservation of mass and the principle of equilibrium of headspace bottles. Furthermore, an emission source model for the residual ratio of the inhalable chemicals in play mats was established. Most substances found in play mats have large partition coefficients owing to the complex void structure of the mats, which adsorbs a large number of organic pollutants. The partition coefficient is not only related to the boiling point and environmental temperature, but also the specific material and the adsorption of the organic pollutant onto the material. The emission source model for children's play mats developed in this study can characterize the decay of the inhalable chemicals over time. The data showed that after eight days of placing the play mat in a ventilated environment, the residual ratio of seven inhalable chemicals did not exceed 15 %.

Evaluation of three extraction methods for the isolation of PAHs from recycled paperboard materials intended for food contact applications

The present work is part of a comprehensive study aiming to identify and quantify an array of harmful contaminants at very low concentrations in recycled paperboard materials intended for food contact applications. In this initial study, three commonly used extraction techniques were optimized and tested for their efficacy and accuracy in isolating 13 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from three commercially available food packaging materials made from recycled paperboard. The techniques were Soxtec extraction (SE), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), and headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. The recoveries of all three methods were rather satisfactory; 10 out of 13 substances were recovered at rates between 70 and 124% using the SE method, 8 out of 13 substances were recovered at rates between 50 and 134% using the UAE method, and finally, 8 out of 13 substances were recovered at rates between 70 and 105% using the HS-SPME method. Regarding accuracy, the HS-SPME method gave the best results at 125 μg kg−1, as 7 out of 13 concentration values were within acceptable limits, while only five and four concentration values were within limits for the UAE and SE methods, respectively. Furthermore, the results of both the calculated RSD and HorRat values indicated that HS-SPME is more accurate for extracting PAHs than the other two methods.

Current approaches and challenges of sample preparation procedures for the safety assessment of paper and cardboard food contact materials: A comprehensive review

In the European Union (EU), Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 provides a harmonized legal EU framework and sets out the general principles for safety and inertness for all Food Contact Materials (FCMs) and Food Contact Articles. From a food safety point of view, however, specific EU legislation for paper and cardboard FCMs is lacking, while at Member State level, national legislation differs among countries. More than 11,000 chemicals have been identified in all types of FCMs, most of them without any information on toxicity or migration potential from FCM to food. The present review shows a wide variability of protocols, approaches, and conditions used in scientific studies, which are difficult to compare. In this regard, procedures and conditions laid down in EU legislation for plastics and European Standards (EN protocols) may serve as a good basis for the future sample preparation procedures in the framework of paper and cardboard FCMs safety assessment. Challenges on sample preparation procedures are presented involving the interlinked steps of sample preparation, conditions used and their impact in chemical analysis and in vitro bioassay testing. Currently, there is no general consensus on the criteria for structuring, evaluating, and tuning sample preparation procedures for paper and cardboard FCMs. For this purpose, a set of modified criteria and a decision tree are proposed based on the literature. Along this, mass transfer processes occurring in paper and cardboard FCMs and parameters affecting chemical migration need to be accounted for prior to reaching general consensus on criteria for sample preparation procedures.

The impact of essential oils on the qualitative properties, release profile, and stimuli-responsiveness of active food packaging nanocomposites

Food industries attempt to introduce a new food packaging by blending essential oils (EOs) into the polymeric matrix as an active packaging, which has great ability to preserve the quality of food and increase its shelf life by releasing active compounds within storage. The main point in designing the active packaging is controlled-release of active substances for their enhanced activity. Biopolymers are functional substances, which suggest structural integrity to sense external stimuli like temperature, pH, or ionic strength. The controlled release of EOs from active packaging and their stimuli-responsive properties can be very important for practical applications of these novel biocomposites. EOs can affect the uniformity of the polymeric matrix and physical and structural characteristics of the composites, such as moisture content, solubility in water, water vapor transmission rate, elongation at break, and tensile strength. To measure the ingredients of EOs and their migration from food packaging, chromatographic methods can be used. A head-space-solid phase micro-extraction coupled to gas chromatography (HS-SPME-GC-MS) technique is as a good process for evaluating the release of Eos. Therefore, the aims of this review were to evaluate the qualitative characteristics, release profile, and stimuli-responsiveness of active and smart food packaging nanocomposites loaded with essential oils and developing such multi-faceted packaging for advanced applications.

Food packaging's materials: A food safety perspective

Food packaging serves purposes of food product safety and easy handling and transport by preventing chemical contamination and enhancing shelf life, which provides convenience for consumers. Various types of materials, including plastics, glass, metals, and papers and their composites, have been used for food packaging. However, owing to consumers' increased health awareness, the significance of transferring harmful materials from packaging materials into foods is of greater concern. This review highlights the interactions of food with packaging materials and elaborates the mechanism, types, and contributing factors of migration of chemical substances from the packaging to foods. Also, various types of chemical migrants from different packaging materials with their possible impacts on food safety and human health are discussed. We conclude with a future outlook based on legislative considerations and ongoing technical contributions to optimization of food-package interactions.

Delaying microbial proliferation in freshly peeled shallots by active packaging incorporating ethanol vapour-controlled release sachets and low storage temperature

This research was conducted to investigate effects of ethanol vapour released in active packaging and storage temperatures on the quality of freshly peeled shallots. The package tested was a solid polypropylene tray incorporating an ethanol vapour-controlled release sachet. The sachet was made of an aluminium foil film on one side and either low-density polyethylene or nylon/polyethylene on the other. Individual sachets contained silica gel adsorbent as the carrier pre-loaded with ethanol. One sachet was placed in each tray containing the peeled shallots and the tray was heat sealed with the low-density polyethylene film lid. Packages were stored at either 10 or 25 ℃ for 10 d. Trays containing only peeled shallots were designated as controls. High storage temperature stimulated quality changes in the shallots. Although ethanol vapour accumulated in the active package headspace, the extent to which ethanol concentrations increased within the shallots was not significantly different from that in the control packages. Microbial proliferation in terms of yeast and mould counts could be delayed through a combination of 10 ℃ and ethanol vapour released from the low-density polyethylene sachet. The ethanol vapour accumulated in the packages did not have a significant effect on mass loss, firmness, and colour changes in the peeled shallots, or on the concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the packages.

Project SafeFoodPack Design: case study on indirect migration from paper and boards

Migration due to indirect contact with packaging caused several major sanitary crises, including the spread contamination of dry food by mineral oils and printing ink constituents from cardboard. The issues are still not fully resolved because the mechanisms have been insufficiently described and the relationship between design, contamination level, type of contaminant, and conditions of storage (time and temperature) are poorly understood. This study proposes a forensic analysis of these phenomena when food is separated from cardboard by a plastic layer. Practical relationships and advanced simulation scenarios were devised and validated against the long-term migration between 20 and 60°C of 15 substances. They were chosen to be representative of the main contaminants of cardboard: aliphatic and aromatic mineral oils, photo-initiators and plasticisers. Data were summarised as iso-contamination curves and iso-contamination times up to 2 years. Simple rules are illustrated to extrapolate the results to arbitrary conditions in order to identify critical substances and to estimate the plastic film's thickness to keep the contamination within acceptable limits. Recommendations for the risk management of contamination routes without contact are finally drafted.

Required barrier efficiency of internal bags against the migration from recycled paperboard packaging into food: a benchmark

The use of recycled paperboard and corrugated board for food packaging is in the interest of the sustainability of resources, but in most applications the food must be protected against contamination from these materials, such as by an internal bag with a functional barrier. Producers of packaging need a specification to find the most suitable and economical barrier for a given application, and the customer needs the confidence that a solution offered to him is adequate. An accurate determination of the barrier efficiency is not possible due to the large number of migrants, most of which have not been evaluated or not even identified. Hence the specification must be based on assumptions and verifiable by a simple test. The proposed benchmark presumes that the migration of all non-evaluated or even unknown substances in recycled paperboard will remain below 0.01 mg kg(-1) food, the conventional detection limit, if their transfer does not exceed 1% of the content in the paperboard. Some substances, such as mineral oil or fatty acids, will exceed the 0.01 mg kg(-1) limit, but they are known, evaluated and of no concern at the reduced migration. Since the critical substances must be assumed to be unknown, the criterion of the 1% migration is tested with three surrogate substances of similar volatility and covering a broad range of polarity. The cornerstones of the method are specified.

Migration of organic compounds from a multilayer plastic–paper material intended for food packaging

This paper deals with the study of the kinetic migration of a series of organic compounds representative of potential contaminants in packaging materials and used as surrogates (o-xylene, acetophenone, dodecane, naphthalene, 2,3,4-trichloroanisole, benzophenone, isomeric mix of diisopropylnaphthalene, diisobutyl phthalate and methyl stearate). Migration to one side of a solid simulant, Tenax, also referred to as MPPO (modified polyphenylene oxide), was investigated in this study. One spiked sample of multilayer material was used to optimise the extraction procedures for the multilayer paper-based material and the Tenax as well as to perform kinetic migration studies. Three sequential extractions using ethanol were necessary for the strips of the multilayer material but only one extraction was necessary for the solid simulant to obtain >70% recovery of the surrogates. These results enabled us to specify the extraction requirements of the multilayer sample and the solid simulant and as well as those of the migration tests at high temperature using Tenax as solid simulant. The matrix effect associated with the extraction of the contaminants from the multilayer sample is also discussed.

Determination of microstickies in recycled whitewater by headspace gas chromatography

This study proposed a novel headspace gas chromatographic (HS-GC) method for determination of adhesive contaminants (microstickies) in recycled whitewater, a fiber containing process stream, in the paper mill. It is based on the adsorption behavior of toluene (as a tracer) on the hydrophobic surface of microstickies, which affects the apparent vapor-liquid equilibration partitioning of toluene. It was found that the equilibrium concentration of toluene in the vapor phase is inversely proportional to the apparent effective surface area of microstickies that remain in the corresponding solution. Thus, the amount of microsticky materials in the recycled whitewater can be quantified by HS-GC via indirect measurement of the toluene content in the vapor phase of the sample without any pretreatment. The presented method is simple, rapid and automated.