Effect of sterilisation and storage conditions on the migration of bisphenol A from tinplate cans of the Lebanese market

ABSTRACT

The use of bisphenol A (BPA) in lacquer coating of food cans has been restricted by different authorities in many countries, such as in Europe. However, such regulation does not exist in many other countries including Lebanon. Due to the lack of data on the quality of Lebanese can production; this study investigates the migration of BPA from two types of tinplate cans manufactured in Lebanon, before and after sterilisation. Cans were analysed under different storage conditions (time and temperature) and filled with an aqueous simulant. The determination of BPA was carried out using UPLC with fluorescence detection, and further confirmed by MS detection. After sterilisation BPA levels drastically increased from an average of 0.15 to 109 µg/kg, giving a BPA migration around 10.5 µg/dm² for both types of cans. Storage temperature and time had no significant influence on BPA levels in sterilised cans (p-value > 0.05); however, these factors significantly affected BPA levels in non-sterilised cans.

KEYWORDS:

• Bisphenol A
• tinplate cans
• aqueous food simulant
• sterilisation
• storage conditions

Acknowledgment

This study was partly financed by the PHC CEDRE 2014 project No 30953UJ. One of the authors, Sara Noureddine El Moussawi, would like to express her gratitude to the “Ecole Doctorale des Sciences et de Technologie (EDST) – Lebanese University” for her PhD scholarship.

Highlights

• First report of BPA detection in tinplate cans manufactured in Lebanon

• BPA levels in aqueous simulant from sterilised cans ranged between 80 and 150 µg/kg

• Sterilisation process accelerated BPA migration (around 10.5 µg/dm²)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.