Assessment of phthalate migration in polyethylene food contact materials sold on the Ghanaian market

Figures & data

Figure 1. Phthalates migration from polyethylene contact materials with varied time.

Figure 2. a Concentrations of migrated DEHP for 1 hr, b Concentration of migrated DBP for 4hrs.

Figure 3. Phthalates migration from polyethylene contact materials with varied temperature.

Table 1. Analytical recovery % of spiked samples at 5ppb

MATRIX	5 ppb spiked	% recovery
DEHP	5.298	105.96
DEP	4.417	88.34
BBP	5.849	116.98
DBP	5.526	110.52

Table 2. Average concentrations of migrated phthalates in polyethylene food container (PFC)

	5°C (mg/kg)	20°C (mg/kg)	40°C (mg/kg)	80°C (mg/kg)
DEHP
30 mins	0.69 ± 0.03	0.89 ± 0.04	1.19 ± 0.02	1.29 ± 0.02
1 hr	0.76 ± 0.09	1.00 ± 0.02	1.71 ± 0.55	2.02 ± 0.74
2hrs	1.07 ± 0.06	1.19 ± 0.06	1.61 ± 0.16	1.95 ± 0.14
4hrs	1.22 ± 0.08	1.54 ± 0.06	1.60 ± 0.05	1.68 ± 0.05
DEP
30 mins	ND	0.05 ± 0.02	0.59 ± 0.06	0.89 ± 0.03
1 hr	0.04 ± 0.01	0.28 ± 0.04	0.43 ± 0.06	0.71 ± 0.04
2hrs	0.32 ± 0.03	0.49 ± 0.08	0.79 ± 0.04	1.04 ± 0.02
4hrs	0.61 ± 0.16	0.78 ± 0.19	1.55 ± 0.17	1.78 ± 0.06
DBP
30 mins	ND	ND	0.03 ± 0.01	0.04 ± 0.01
1 hr	0.04 ± 0.01	0.09 ± 0.01	0.16 ± 0.01	0.18 ± 0.05
2hrs	0.08 ± 0.01	0.16 ± 0.04	0.27 ± 0.02	0.50 ± 0.02
4hrs	0.14 ± 0.02	0.43 ± 0.10	1.14 ± 0.01	1.43 ± 0.28

ND = Not detected

Figure 4. a. Concentrations of migrated DEHP at 5°C, b. Concentrations of migrated DEP at 40°C.

Table 3. Average concentrations of migrated phthalates in take away bags (TAB)

	5°c (mg/kg)	20°c (mg/kg)	40°c (mg/kg)	80°c (mg/kg)
DEHP
30 mins	1.00 ± 0.02	1.37 ± 0.23	0.54 ± 0.20	1.01 ± 0.01
1 hr	1.17 ± 0.02	1.38 ± 0.25	1.74 ± 0.20	1.15 ± 0.03
2hrs	1.20 ± 0.01	1.30 ± 0.07	1.35 ± 0.10	1.57 ± 0.06
4hrs	1.39 ± 0.10	1.39 ± 0.04	1.48 ± 0.20	1.48 ± 0.07
DEP
30 mins	0.02 ± 0.04	0.05 ± 0.02	0.46 ± 0.06	0.80 ± 0.06
1 hr	0.39 ± 0.04	0.54 ± 0.08	0.70 ± 0.06	0.77 ± 0.06
2hrs	0.49 ± 0.02	0.57 ± 0.08	0.70 ± 0.06	0.88 ± 0.05
4hrs	0.52 ± 0.02	0.67 ± 0.06	1.38 ± 0.10	1.58 ± 0.06
DBP
30 mins	0.02 ± 0.01	0.04 ± 0.01	0.36 ± 0.02	0.47 ± 0.06
1 hr	0.03 ± 0.01	0.13 ± 0.01	0.03 ± 0.01	0.14 ± 0.01
2hrs	0.05 ± 0.03	0.31 ± 0.05	0.50 ± 0.10	0.73 ± 0.12
4hrs	0.08 ± 0.02	0.54 ± 0.18	1.06 ± 0.03	1.32 ± 0.03

Figure 5. a Migration of DEP into olive oil for 30 mins, b Migration of DBP into olive oil for 2hrs.