PVC is a common food contact material that is usually plasticized to increase its flexibility. Phthalates are one of many chemical compounds that are used as plasticizers in PVC. They may be used in packaging materials for foods and can also be found in components of certain food processing equipment such as conveyor belts and tubing and/or hoses. Transfer of phthalates from packaging to the surfaces of foods can occur. In recent years, there has been interest in understanding the health effects of phthalates, as well as the possible human exposure levels. However, there is limited information available about the major routes of exposure to phthalates. A recent study investigated the different types of plasticizers currently used in thirty six different samples of PVC food packaging and food processing materials available for purchase in the U.S. It was determined that most products no longer contain DEHP as the primary plasticizer. One of the main product types where it was still found was in the PVC gaskets of beer bottle lids. In the current study the concentration of DEHP that had migrated from the gasket into the beer was investigated. Several different analytical techniques were evaluated such as LC-MS/MS and SPME-GC/MS but background concentrations of DEHP were consistently an issue. In order to minimize sample preparation and blank issues while maintaining a low detection limit for DEHP, a stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) coupled with GC-MS/MS was used to extract and quantify the DEHP in the samples. To ensure that the DEHP was coming from the packaging material and not from other food contact surfaces encountered during the fermentation and bottling steps, beers packaged in both bottles with and without PVC gaskets were investigated.

Determination of the Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) concentration of beer stored in bottles with PVC gaskets

254th National Meeting (2017)

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