Migration of Phthalates from Cellulose Packaging into Food Simulant: Assessment of Different Levels of Contaminants

Abstract

Since paper recycling operates with market-collected paper scrap, this may lead to undesirable chemicals migrating from the wastepaper into the recycled material. Therefore, this study is based on the assessment of several additives inadvertently included in cellulose packaging that may migrate to foodstuff, considering that toxicological effects of some of these additives may persist in recycled cellulose fibers used to produce new food packaging. The purpose of this study is to determine migration of dibutyl phthalate (DBP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and 2,6-diisopropylnaphthalene (DIPN) into fatty food simulant (n-heptane) by means of gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). For this purpose, commercial samples of cellulose food packages are contaminated with different concentrations of these additives, and migration into the food simulant is evaluated after the samples remain in contact with the food simulant for a prolonged time at maximum temperatures of 40 °C. The results of the assessment show that an amount ranging from 0.1–0.3% of phthalates and DIPN migrate from the fortified package into the fatty food simulant. The maximum levels of migration of these additives into the recycled cellulose packaging in order to comply with the specific migration limits for contact with foodstuff have been estimated.