Detection and Identification of Oestrogen‐Active Substances in Plastic Food Packaging Migrates

Abstract

Migrates from plastic food packaging were tested for oestrogen activity by yeast oestrogen screen and subsequently analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography -mass spectrometry to identify oestrogen-active chemicals. Plastic samples were migrated according to EC 10/2011 with worst case scenarios being used. Food simulants consisted of either 10-95% ethanol or ultrapure water. Migrates were concentrated afterwards by solid phase extraction. Food contact material tested included polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene and composite films. Oestrogenic activity ranging from 0.7 to 59 ng/l 17ß-estradiol equivalents was detected in seven out of 42 samples tested. The highest activity was found in a composite film sample. All 11 polyethylene terephthalate samples tested negative for oestrogen activity. A number of chemicals with known or supposed oestrogen activity were identified in migrates of oestrogen-active samples. These include butylated hydroxytoluene, 1,3-diphenylpropane, 1,2-diphenylcyclobutane and dibutyl phthalate. packaging surface during processing, e.g. set off effects. Most of the detected activities were low compared with the high oestrogen burden that was detected in bottled mineral water in recent studies. [13][14][15] Only one out of 42 tested samples showed an oestrogen activity of more than 18 ng EEQ/l, which was the average activity that Wagner and Oehlmann detected in bottled mineral water. 15 No PET samples tested (including recycling flakes) showed oestrogen activity, suggesting that PET bottles are not the source of the high oestrogen activities detected in mineral water. However, oestrogen activity in the range of 1.9 to 8.0 pg/l, as detected in mineral water samples by Wagner and Oehlmann 16 and by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health 17 using more sensitive human cell-based assays are below the limit of detection of 0.1, respectively 0.2 ng EEQ/l. 478 C. KIRCHNAWY ET AL.

Development and application of a non-targeted extraction method for the analysis of migrating compounds from plastic baby bottles by GC-MS

“…While the migration phenomenon in plastics has already been studied extensively (Simoneau et al 2011(Simoneau et al , 2012Yang et al 2011;Castillo et al 2013;Li et al 2013;Bittner et al 2014;Kirchnawy et al 2014;Maiolini et al 2014), the present study complements previous findings by using a broader scope for the identification of chemicals originating from plastics. Therefore, the principal aim of this study was to detect migrants from the alternative plastic materials currently used for baby bottles.…”

Effect‐directed identification of endocrine disruptors in plastic baby teethers

“…Antiandrogenic activity was also detected in another product, while a third teether was potently cytotoxic. Using similar approaches, endocrine activity was reported for several plastic food contact materials (Bittner et al, ; Kirchnawy et al, ; Mertl et al, ; Yang et al, ), canine plastic toys (Wooten and Smith, ) and in water from plastic bottles (Wagner and Oehlmann, , ). This supports the view that plastics can be a common source of EDC exposure.…”

Impacts of food contact chemicals on human health: a consensus statement

“…Many of the chemicals that are intentionally used in the manufacture of food contact articles have not been tested for hazard properties at all, or the available toxicity data are limited [67]. Moreover, endocrine disruption, as a specific hazard of concern, is not routinely assessed for chemicals migrating from food contact articles, although some chemical migrants are known endocrine disruptors [73][74][75][76][77].…”