Migration of 17 photoinitiators from printing inks and cardboard into packaged food : results of a Belgian market survey

Van den Houwe, K.; Van Heyst, A.; Evrard, C.; Van Loco, J.; Bolle, F.; Lynen, F.; Van Hoeck, E.

doi:10.1002/PTS.2190

Title

Migration of 17 photoinitiators from printing inks and cardboard into packaged food : results of a Belgian market survey

Author

Van den Houwe, K.

Van Heyst, A.

Evrard, C.

Van Loco, J.

Bolle, F.

Lynen, F.

Van Hoeck, E.

Abstract

Photoinitiators are widely used to cure ink on packaging materials used in food applications such as carton boards and can contaminate the food by migrating into the food. In this contribution, a fast and reliable confirmation method for the determination of photoinitiators in dry foodstuffs is described: benzophenone (BP), 4,4'-bis(diethylamino) benzophenone (DEAB), 2-chloro-9H-thioxanthen-9-one (CTX), 1-chloro-4-ropoxy-9H-thioxanthen-9-one (CPTX), 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenyl acetophenone (DMPA), 4-(dimethylamino) benzophenone (DMBP), 2-ethylanthraquinone (EA), 2-ethylhexyl-4-dimethylaminobenzoate (EDB), ethyl-4-dimethylaminobenzoate (EDMAB), 4-hydroxybenzophenone (4-HBP), 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone (HCPK), 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone (HMBP), 2-hydroxy-4'-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-2-methylpropiophenone (HMMP), 2-isopropyl-9H-thioxanthen-9-one (ITX), 4-methylbenzophenone (MBP), 4,4'-bis(dimethylamino) benzophenone (MK) and 4-phenylbenzophenone (PBZ). Dry foodstuffs were extracted using acetonitrile, followed by the addition of inorganic salts to precipitate fatty residues. After filtration, the extract was analysed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography in combination with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Quantification was carried out using benzophenone-d10 (BP-d10) as internal standard. The presented method was successfully validated in-house. Afterwards, the procedure was applied in a marketing study, investigating 97 dry foodstuffs purchased on the Belgian market. In 89% of the samples, at least one photoinitiator was detected. The photoinitiators BP, EDMA and DMPA were most frequently found, while some photoinitiators (CPTX, DEAB, DMBP, HCPK, HMBP and MK) were never detected. Copyright (C) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Language

English

Source (journal)

Packaging technology and science. - Chichester

Publication

Chichester : 2016

ISSN

0894-3214

DOI

10.1002/PTS.2190

Volume/pages

29 :2 (2016) , p. 121-131