Determination of primary aromatic amines in cold water extracts of food contact materials of paper and board

Primary aromatic amines, being able to migrate from food contact articles i nto foodstuffs, can be tested as a sum by an official method. The amines av ailable in an aqueous food simulant are coupled to an azodye, and the conte nt is determined photometrically. This method is not applicable to extracts of paper and board, because it so metimes provides wrong positive results. Therefore a clean-up procedure is added, which allows a selective determination of the amines in these extrac ts. The method is validated, and investigations on a great number of articles o f paper and board show, that it works properly.