In Italy, data on aluminium concentration in food items are scarce although aluminium containers are widely used to cook, to freeze or to wrap foods (foil) and it is known that aluminium can migrate from containers to foods. Therefore, an experimental study was carried out to quantify aluminium exposure from ingestion of actual total diets and from migration from containers to foods in conditions representative of the actual use. Samples of 24 h diets were collected, homogenized, lyophilized and the amount of aluminium was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The aluminium concentrations ranged from 1.0 to 2.1 mg/kg of food; the intake of aluminium ranged from 2.5 to 6.3 mg/day. The amount of aluminium migrating from aluminium cookware was determined by cooking various representative foods in aluminium and in glass or stainless steel containers. From comparison of the results, the increase in aluminium because of migration from cookware was relatively low, with the highest release into acidic and salty foods. The daily intake of aluminium even if all the foods were prepared and stored in aluminium containers would be approximately 6 mg/day, a very low value compared with the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake of 7 mg/kg body weight (equivalent to 60 mg/day for an adult man) established by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives.
The paper deals with gel permeation chromatography (GPC) monitoring of the behaviour of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) after repeated extrusions. Virgin PET was submitted to three successive extrusion/drying cycles and then the samples were swelled with hexafluoroisopropanol and treated with chloroform. GPC analysis was carried out at room temperature on a B.C.S. Serial LC 2000 GPC system equipped with a series of four GPC columns with UV detection at 254 nm and chloroform as eluent. GPC results showed that after each extrusion step the molecular weight distribution of the PET was different and Mw, Mn and Mz decreased. These findings suggest that during each extrusion degradation occurs and that repeated extrusions, as in the case of the recycling PET, may cause an alteration of the molecular weight distribution of the original PET.
The aim of the present work was to evaluate the suitability of recycling papers for their possible use in the field of food packaging. Therefore, the amount of some heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cr, Cr VI, Hg) and the presence/migration of optical whitenings in 14 samples of recycled papers was determined.The obtained results showed that the considered parameters may be suggested to characterize recycling papers.As regards paper and paperboards, a EEC Directive has not yet been drafted, while in Italy these materials have been regulated since 1973 by Ministerial Decree 21.3.73. The quoted decree issued to use "first-use" cellulose fiber, except for dry solid foods for which recycled paper was allowed. A 3Author to whom the correspondence should be sent.
The purpose of this study was to estimate the lead intake from crystalware resulting from short-term contacts with beverages, under conditions that are likely to occur to a consumer. The extraction ability of different kinds of beverages was estimated by comparison with 4% acetic acid under conditions of continuous contact for 3 h. It was found that lead release increased in the following order: cola drink > HAc > whisky > white wine. Under conditions of repeated use under different scenarios, lead release showed a steep decrease with increasing number of contacts, for both wine and cola drink. The maximum lead intake resulted from the cola drink, corresponding to an ingestion of 14.5 micrograms Pb for consumption of 350 ml beverage. Assuming a fixed contribution from the diet of 71 micrograms/day, in the six scenarios taken into consideration, total daily lead intake levels ranged from a minimum of about 76 micrograms up to a maximum of 86 micrograms lead. As these values, converted on a weekly basis, would correspond to 35% and 40% PTWI respectively, significant health risks resulting from the ingestion of beverages in contact with crystalware can be excluded. Finally it was found that the use of a dishwater did not affect significantly the release of lead into wine, while release into cola drink was slightly but significantly increased after the third cycle.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.