Determination of Polyvinyl Acetate in Chewing Gum Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Evaporative Light Scattering Detector and Pyrolyzer–Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) is used in various adhesive, paint, and transparent tape applications. It is also used as a food additive in food manufacturing to make chewing gum and fruit and vegetable glazes; however, guidelines on the amount of food additives that is used have not yet been established. In this study, a method was developed for analysis of polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) using high-performance liquid chromatography with an evaporative light scattering detector (HPLC–ELSD) and pyrolyzer–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py–GC–MS). The analytical methods were applied to commercially available chewing gum. In the HPLC–ELSD analysis, the linearity was acceptable (R2 > 0.999), and the limits of detection and quantification were 22.2 and 67.3 µg/mL, respectively. The accuracies of PVAc were 87–115% at spike levels of 200–1000 µg/mL for the intra- and inter-day tests. The contents of PVAc in the chewing gum samples were n.d. (not detected)—13.8 g/kg. The presence of PVAc in chewing gum was verified with Py–GC–MS analysis, finding the typical pyrolysates of PVAc, such as acetic acid, benzene, toluene, styrene, indane, naphthalene, and acenaphthene. The developed analytical methods can be applied for successful identification of PVAc in chewing gum.

Analyzing the effects of multiple adhesives on elastic collisions and energy loss in a Newton’s Cradle

“…Gum has a Young's Modulus value ranging from 0.8 to 2.06 MPa, making gum highly inelastic (9). Its adhesiveness is due to the presence of polyvinyl acetate; however, due to the low percentage of polyvinyl acetate, the overall adhesiveness of the chewing gum is relatively low (10,11). We hypothesized that gum would show no extreme ability to mitigate unwanted sphere movement as its low adhesiveness would cause spheres to become more easily uncoupled from the gum and, therefore, cause more unanticipated collisions compared to stronger adhesives such as tape.…”

Chewing gum base: A comprehensive review of composition, production, and assessment methods: Advances and approaches in biodegradability

“…Their participation is desirable in the amount of 30%–45% of the weight of the gum base (Miladinov & Amarista, 2007). Among these, PVA is commonly used as a food additive in food manufacturing to make chewing gum (Degady et al, 1998; Sim et al, 2020). PVA, which is made by the polymerization of vinyl acetate obtained by reacting acetic acid with ethylene produced from petroleum, can be utilized in chewing gum as a resin, elastomer, elastomer solvent, and plasticizer (Degady et al, 1998).…”

“…PVA, which is made by the polymerization of vinyl acetate obtained by reacting acetic acid with ethylene produced from petroleum, can be utilized in chewing gum as a resin, elastomer, elastomer solvent, and plasticizer (Degady et al, 1998). It is a pale‐yellow glassy or colorless mass that is insoluble in water and oils, whereas, entirely hydrolyzed in alcohols and esters (Sim et al, 2020). PVA is malleable and indicates ample cold flow in molded plastics, moreover, its Tg is 28°C, which is a little above the usual ambient temperatures (Brydson, 1999).…”

Applicability of single-shot and double-shot Py-GC/MS for the detection of components in vinyl acetate-based emulsions used in modern-contemporary art

“…Extracted ion chromatogram of the ion mass with m/z = 60 for acetic acid in pink and with m/z = 78 for benzene in blue, characteristic for PVAc. [23][24][25][26] and based on thermal degradation mechanisms investigated by different types of techniques, including non-isothermal thermogravimetry (TGA) [27], thermal degradation [28], solid-state NMR, thermogravimetry coupled with mass spectrometry (TGA-MS) and differential thermal analysis (TGA-DTA) [29]. Under thermal degradation, AA is first formed through deacetylation reactions via side-chain elimination from the polymer chain.…”