In an article published on August 18, 2023, in the journal Chemosphere, Cheng Tang from the University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, Australia, and co-authors investigated 79 multilayer plastic baby food pouches for the migration of bisphenols and phthalic acid diesters (PAEs) as well as other chemicals including non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) using targeted and suspect screening approaches.
The authors purchased the single-use and reusable samples from 24 brands in Australia and performed migration experiments according to the European regulation on plastic food contact materials (EC 10/2011). They used 3% acetic acid and 10%, 20%, and 50% ethanol as food simulants and an incubation for 10 days at 60 °C. For bisphenol, PAE, and NIAS analysis they subjected the migrants to liquid chromatography-quadrupole with a time-of-flight mass analyzer (LC-QToF-MS).
Tang and co-authors found four of the targeted bisphenols in the samples. Bisphenol A (BPA, CAS 80-05-7) was detected most frequently (33% of samples) while bisphenol S (BPS, CAS 80-09-1), bisphenol F (BPF, CAS 620-92-8), and bisphenol AF (BPAF, CAS 1478-61-1) were detected in less than 10% of the samples. Concerning PAEs, five were present in at least one sample with di-methyl phthalate (DMP, CAS 131-11-3) being the most common (43% of samples). The researchers emphasized that BPA and three of the PAEs are not allowed for use in baby food packaging according to European regulation but still were present in some of their samples.
In the suspect screening, the researchers identified three more intentionally added substances (e.g., bisphenol A diglycidyl ether, BADGE, CAS 1675-54-3) and 23 NIAS. Three of the tentatively identified NIAS were confirmed by comparison with chemical standards. Upon quantification of these three NIAS and by using the threshold of toxicological concern (TTC) approach, the authors found that one of the three NIAS, adipic acid-diethylene glycol (AA-DEG, CAS 9010-89-3), “would lead to an exceeding of the TTC for 40% of the products tested.”
The researchers highlighted the need for a better understanding of human exposure to NIAS via food packaging and potential associated health risks with a focus on infants. This would also help to more appropriately consider NIAS in plastic food contact material regulations (FPF reported).
Plastic baby food containers do not only release chemicals but also billions of plastic particles, as recently found by Hussain and co-authors (FPF reported).
Reference
Tang, C. et al. (2023). “Evaluation and identification of chemical migrants leached from baby food pouch packaging.” Chemosphere. DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139758
