Food contamination by diisopropylnaphthalenes from cardboard packages

Abstract

A GC/MS investigation performed on two kinds of foods (rice and ‘pasta’) and their packages showed the presence of six diisopropylnaphthalene isomers. It has been demonstrated that such compounds, chemical components of carbonless and thermal copy paper, are present in cardboard, usually obtained with recycled paper. This work also demonstrates that diisopropylnaphthalenes can migrate from boxes to foods.