Migration studies of butylated hydroxytoluene, tributyl acetylcitrate and dibutyl phthalate into food simulants

BACKGROUND Migration is a mass transfer process in which chemical substances with a low molecular weight are transferred from packaging into food. This phenomenon has received great attention from a food safety point of view because these chemicals could potentially represent a risk for consumers' health. The present study investigated the process of migration of two common plasticizers [tributyl acetylcitrate (ATBC) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP)] and one antioxidant [butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)] from a common plastic material used in food packaging (low density polyethylene) into 50% ethanol (v/v), 95% ethanol (v/v) and isooctane. A mathematical model based on Fick's second law was used to determine the partition and diffusion coefficients. In addition, the effect of temperature on the diffusion was studied by applying the Arrhenius equation. RESULTS High-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry methods were applied to measure the amount of ATBC, DBP and BHT that migrated into the food simulants. A mathematical model based on Fick's second law of diffusion was used to estimate key migration parameters: diffusion and partition coefficients (D-P and K-P/F), which were determined for each migrant and food simulant at three temperatures (10, 20 and 40 degrees C). The results showed that the diffusion process is significantly influenced by temperature, although the type of simulant also plays an important role in the migration process. CONCLUSION The model investigated is shown to be appropriate for predicting the migration from food packaging into real foodstuffs at common storage temperatures. (c) 2018 Society of Chemical Industry