Odorous compounds in paperboard as influenced by recycled material and storage

Many volatile compounds can be identified in unprinted paperboard by means of steam distillation in combination with capillary gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and olfactometry. Paperboards produced with recycled material exhibit additional volatiles which partly contribute to off-odours. Using sniffing techniques, benzaldehyde, acetophenone, 1-octen-3-ol, 1-octen-3-one, 2-nonenal, methylguajacol, butanoic and 3-methyl butanoic acid were identified as the most odorous volatiles. The aromatic substances mainly exude from inks and printing solvents in waste materials used for paperboard manufacturing. During storage under controlled conditions, the microbial load of paperboard decreased slightly, and no odorous metabolic products were generated. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.