GC-MS Studies on the Contaminants in Paper-Plastic Food Packaging Materials

The residual contaminants in paper-plastic food packaging materials can migrate into both surface and inside of food, and consequently harm consumer’s health. Due to this fact, the safety of food packaging materials has attracted concerns from all over world. In this study, the residual contaminants were extracted by ethanol from paper-plastic food packaging materials under ultrasonic condition and different temperatures firstly, then the extractives were concentrated by rotary evaporator, and finally the concentrated contaminants were characterized by means of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) detection. The results showed that the following contaminants are detected in the paper-plastic food packaging materials: plasticizer including dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP); antioxidants including 2,6-Di-tert-butyl-p-benzoquinone and 2,6-Di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol (BHT), and solvents in printing ink production including n-Hexadecane and n-Heptadecane. Upon the test results, the conclusion is that more residual contaminants can be detected under high temperatures. This study is helpful for quality control of paper-plastic food packaging materials and has built basic foundation for future migration research.