Migration of lead and arsenic from food contact paper into a food simulant and assessment of their consumer exposure safety

ABSTRACT

Paper is one of the most commonly used food packaging materials. During the production of packaging paper, it is possible for trace amounts of heavy metals to be incorporated as contaminants. These could migrate into food when packaging paper (food contact paper) is used for cooking, storing and eating. The aim of this study was to determine the migration of lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) from food contact paper into a food simulant and then to assess human safety through the estimated daily intake (EDI) with consumption factor. Migration tests were conducted for 310 samples using 4% acetic acid as a food simulant at 25°C for 10 min and at 95°C for 30 min. Concentrations of Pb and As in a food simulant were quantified by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. LODs for Pb and As were 0.002 and 0.005 µg L⁻¹, respectively. The migration of Pb from food contact paper ranged from not detected (ND) to 17.5 μg L⁻¹ at 25°C for 10 min and from 0.10 to 25.6 μg L⁻¹ at 95°C for 30 min while As ranged from ND to 0.44 μg L⁻¹ at 25°C for 10 min and from ND to 0.87 μg L⁻¹ at 95°C for 30 min. The migration of Pb and As determined in this study confirm that the human exposure was within safe levels based on the EDI of food contact paper compared with the provisional tolerable weekly intake for Pb of 25 μg kg⁻¹ bw and for As of 15 μg kg⁻¹ bw.

KEYWORDS:

• Migration
• lead
• arsenic
• food contact paper
• safety assessment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety [14161MFDS015]