Occurrence of bisphenol-F-diglycidyl ether (BFDGE) in fish canned in oil

The levels of bisphenol-F-diglycidyl ether (BFDGE) were quantified as part of a European survey on the migration of residues of epoxy resins into oil from canned fish. The contents of BFDGE in cans, lids and fish collected from all 15 Member States of the European Union and Switzerland were analysed in 382 samples. Cans and lids were separately extracted with acetonitrile. The extraction from fish was carried out with hexane followed by re-extraction with acetonitrile. The analysis was performed by reverse phase HPLC with fluorescence detection. BFDGE could be detected in 12% of the fish, 24% of the cans and 18% of the lids. Only 3% of the fish contained BFDGE in concentrations considerably above 1 mg/kg. In addition to the presented data, a comparison was made with the levels of BADGE (bisphenol-A-diglycidyl ether) analysed in the same products in the context of a previous study.