Safety of polyethylene terephthalate food containers evaluated by HPLC, migration test, and estimated daily intake

H. J. Park, Y. J. Lee, M. R. Kim, K. M. Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A comparative high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of monomers, terephthalic acid (TPA), isophthalic acid (IPA), and dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) food containers was conducted. Monomer linearities and sensitivities were calibrated between established and novel HPLC analyses. Safety of PET containers was evaluated with newly established detection methods for TPA, IPA, and DMT. Migration of the 3 monomers into food simulants (water, 4% acetic acid, 20% alcohol, and n-heptane) from 56 PET containers collected from open markets was monitored. Migrated monomers were not detected over 0.1 ppm of detection limit. The corresponding estimated daily intake was measured to confirm the safety of these publicly available PET containers and to permit comparison to the specific migration limit of the European Union. The estimated daily intake of 3 monomers migrating from PET was 0.0384 mg/kg each. This represented only 0.6% of the European Union's specific migration limit, confirming the safety of the examined containers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)T83-T89
JournalJournal of Food Science
Volume73
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2008 Aug

Keywords

  • Estimated daily intake
  • Isophthalic acid
  • Migration test
  • Polyethylene terephthalate
  • Terephthalic acid

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Food Science

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