The migration of acrylonitrile from acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene polymers into food-simulating liquids

The correlation of residual acrylonitrile (AN) monomer concentration in AN-containing polymers with AN migration into food simulants is of interest because the US FDA regulates the use of these polymers on the basis of the amount of AN that may migrate into food simulants. Studies of the migration of AN into water from seven acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene polymers with varying composition and residual AN levels showed that a linear relationship exists between the concentration of AN in the polymer and the amount of AN migrating, for a given set of exposure conditions. A linear relationship was also observed between the diffusion coefficients generated from the experimental data using a simple Fickian diffusion model and the inverse of the absolute temperature of exposure.