Permeation of Mineral Oil Components from Cardboard Packaging Materials through Polymer Films

Abstract

Mineral oil migration from cardboard packaging into foodstuffs is recognized as a serious problem for the consumers. Within this study, a fast automated method for the determination of mineral oil permeation through barrier films was developed. The method is using 15 defined standard substances representing mineral oil chemistry instead of complex mineral oil mixtures. The developed method can be used for the evaluation of the barrier properties for polymer films regarding mineral oil components from paper and cardboard packaging materials. For all investigated permeants and polymer films, the logarithm of the permeation rates and the logarithm of the vapour pressure result in a linear correlation. The correlation can be used to compare the permeation properties of different barrier films. From the results of this study, it can be concluded that 12 mm oriented polyethylene terephthalate or 15 mm oriented polyamide are effective barriers towards mineral oil components. The barrier effect of pure polyolefin films is negligibly poor because the permeation is too fast and the lag time is in the range of a few hours at 40 C. As a consequence, the migration of mineral oil components from cardboard can be significantly reduced if inner layers of good barrier materials such as polyethylene terephthalate or polyamide are used.

A study into the potential barrier properties against mineral oils of starch-based coatings on paperboard for food packaging

“…It could be confirmed that temperature and molecular weight of the chemicals influence the migration behaviour, as previously stated by other authors (Ewender et al, 2012). As regards 60 8C only heavier substances, such as from C 30 to C 40 could be detected with a percentage above 50% in the donor paper while alkanes from C 18 to C 28 could be detected with a percentage above 5% into Tenax 1 (receptor).…”

“…Main reason of these findings could be the loss of volatile substances during spiking and drying of the donor paper sample, as already explained by other authors (Ewender et al, 2012). Therefore a nominal concentration is not reached for C 10 to C 16 compounds.…”

“…Different private companies have already developed and marketed barrier solutions for mineral oils and simultaneously, some quantitative methods for testing their barrier effect were published in the scientific literature (Ewender, Franz, & Welle, 2012;Fiselier & Grob, 2011).…”

Identification of suspected hazardous chemical contaminants in recycled pastry packaging

“…Paper and cardboard partly or fully produced from recycled fibers are already in use as packaging, which comes into direct contact with food products, in many countries. Recycled paper and cardboard is widely www.food.actapol.net/ used for packaging dry foods (Ewender et al, 2013). However, paper and cardboard made from recovered fibers is often not as pure as virgin paper, because of residues that may not have been completely removed.…”

Recovered Paperboard Samples Identification by Means of Mid-Infrared Sensors

“…There are possible solutions to alleviate this problem, such as the use of functional barriers. However, they do not completely reduce the contamination risk [10].…”