Investigations on Overall Migration of Various Plastic Materials and Articles Used in Contact with Foodstuffs

Abstract

The results of overall migration tests for a wide range of plastic packagings and other domestic and imported articles made of plastic intended to come into direct contact with foodstuffs are presented. In these tests the simulants specified in Directive 85/572/EEC as well as isooctane and 95% ethanol (so called alternative substances) have been used. Checking the overall migration into the four simulants specified in the above mentioned Directive it was found that the limit (equal to 10 mg/dm2 according to Directive 90/128/EEC) was exceeded in a few, very specific, cases. Comparison between overall migration from some articles into sunflower oil and isooctane was also examined. The results indicate that though the use of isooctane as an alternative substance significantly simplifies the testing procedure, exceeding an overall migration limit into isooctane is not equivalent to exceeding the limit of migration into sunflower oil. In such cases only migration into typical fatty food simulants can have a deciding meaning. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.