Abstract
Phthalate acid esters are widely used as plasticizers to impart plastic flexibility in various industrial applications. In this study, the content of seven phthalates, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), di-(2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA), di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP), di-isononyl phthalate (DINP), and di-isodecyl phthalate (DIDP) were determined in paper cups using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In addition, the potential migration of these seven phthalates from paper cups into various food stimulants under different conditions was evaluated. The levels of DBP, DEHA, DEHP, and DNOP were in the ranges of 0.07–3.14, 0.16–42.69, 0.45–58.56, and 0.3–2.4 mg/kg, respectively. Meanwhile, BBP, DINP, and DIDP were not detected in most of the tested samples. In the migration test, DEHA was released to 50 % ethanol and n-heptane in a time-dependent manner and the maximum migration levels were 65.62 ± 3.61 and 95.56 ± 19.76 μg/L, respectively. The release of other phthalates was very low or negligible. These results demonstrated that paper cups are not a significant source of phthalate exposure; however, DEHA could be released from paper cups into alcoholic beverages or oily liquid beverages in the human diet.
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This research was supported by the Civil Research Projects for Solving Social Problems through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (2015M3C8A6A06012996).
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Responsible editor: Roland Kallenborn
Yu Na Park and Min Sun Choi contributed equally to this work.
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Park, Y.N., Choi, M.S., Rehman, S.U. et al. Simultaneous GC-MS determination of seven phthalates in total and migrated portions of paper cups. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 10270–10275 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6604-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6604-6