Migration of Tinuvin P and Irganox 3114 into milk and the corresponding authorised food simulant

Abstract

Migration of Tinuvin P (UV stabiliser) and Irganox 3114 (antioxidant) from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) was studied. HDPE pieces were soaked in either milk (1.5% or 3.5% fat content) or 50% (v/v) ethanol–water mixture – the food simulant for milk as specified in Regulation No. 10/2011/EC. The obtained extracts were analysed by LC-MS/MS. For statistical assessment variography was used. It proved to be a useful tool for making a distinction between the early migration range and the equilibrium, despite the variance of the data. Regulation No. 10/2011/EC specifies 10 days of contact time for milk at 5°C. Our experiments with the food simulant with 24 dm² kg⁻¹ surface/mass ratio showed that both Tinuvin P and Irganox 3114 need less than 1 h to reach equilibrium. Furthermore, 10-day experiments with daily sampling showed that these additives are stable in milk, as well as in the food simulant. The effect of the concentration of the additives in HDPE was studied in the 0.01–5% (m/m) range. For both Tinuvin P and Irganox 3114 and all three extractants the migrated amount became independent of the concentration of the additive in the HDPE approximately at 1% (m/m). For Tinuvin P the food simulant gave a close estimate for the milk samples. However, using the food simulant for modelling the migration of Irganox 3114 into milk gave an overestimation with a factor of minimum 3.5. In the case of Tinuvin P special care must be taken, since the recommended amount in the HDPE can result in additive concentrations near or even over the specific migration limit (SML). However, Irganox 3114 cannot reach the SML either in milk or in the food simulant.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• migration
• additives
• antioxidant
• UV stabiliser
• milk
• food simulant
• semi-variogram
• LC-MS

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Wessling International Research and Education Center (WIREC) for providing HPLC-MS/MS instrument. They are also thankful to BASF, especially Ákos Bezeredi, for donating a large quantity of high-purity Tinuvin P and Irganox 3114. They are grateful to the Laboratory of Plastics and Rubber Technology at Budapest University of Technology and Economics for both the HDPE and help in processing the polymer.

Additional information

Funding

The authors are grateful to Wessling International Research and Education Center (WIREC) for providing financial support.