E. Monroy et al., A FTIR METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF TOTAL SPECIFIC MIGRATION OF AROMATIC PLASTICIZERS FROM POLY(VINYL CHLORIDE), Analusis, 21(5), 1993, pp. 221-226
For the safety assessment of plastic packaging materials, there is a n
eed for methods which allow determination of the migration of complex
mixtures of substances whose toxic behaviours are additive. This work
applies to phthalates, which are widely used as plasticizers. Infrared
spectroscopy is applicable to phthalates derived from primary alcohol
s and from oxo-alcohols, which have been shown to have very close maxi
mum absorptions and molar extinction coefficients, whatever the length
of the alkyl chain. This method can also be extended to trimellitic e
sters. The migrations of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and Tris(2
-ethylhexyl) trimellitate (TEHTM) from PVC pouches into fatty food and
food simulants were compared. TEHTM migrated in larger amounts into l
ipohilic simulants, whereas in aqueous simulants the opposite was obse
rved. These results were interpreted on the basis of the interaction o
f the plasticizer with the simulant.