NIAS migration study from polymeric material to dry food

NIAS are compounds not added for a technical reason during the manufacturing process in materials that can migrate when the artefacts are in contact with food. Monitoring and controlling consumer exposure to these substances is therefore essential to ensure the safety of food products. Aniline, acetyltributylcitrate, bis(2-ethylhexyl)adipate, 2,6-di-tert-butyl-hydroxytoluene (BHT) and 1,4-butanediol migrations from a polyurethane manufact, used as a gasket in contact with dry food matrices, into Tenax®, the food simulant required by the legislation, and into six different food matrices (rice, flour, powdered milk, cocoa powder, sugar, corn starch) were studied. The aim of this study is the optimization and validation of the analytical method that allows the identification and quantification of the specific migration of such analytes, which could occur following contact of a polymeric product with dry foods. Contact tests are performed by contacting the polymer to be tested with the simulant food and the other food matrixes in an oven at 70 °C for 3 days to simulate the worst conditions in the real application. The quantitative analysis is carried out using the gas chromatography technique hyphenated to the mass spectrometry. Recovery tests are performed to evaluate the efficiency of the method. The results obtained show that the process is influenced not only by the chemical nature of the migrant, but also by the physical-chemical nature of the simulant or food matrix used.