Determination of volatile organic compounds in materials from polystyrene intended for contact with food: comparison of HS-GS/MS and SPME-GC/MS techniques

Plastic materials intended for contact with food sometimes exhibit unfavorable organoleptic properties which is related to the presence of volatile organic compounds. These substances not only worsen organoleptic properties, but can be very harmful to humans health. For the sake of consumer safety, it is necessary to control such materials for the content of substances harmful to health, as well as the possibility of their migration to food. Therefore, there is a need to have an appropriate and verified analytical method that could be used in the routine analysis of volatile organic substances present in food contact materials.

In this study, the possibilities of the application of HS-GC/MS and SPME-GC/MS analytical techniques for analyses of volatile organic compounds present in polystyrene food contact materials, demonstrating disadvantageous organoleptic properties were evaluated.

On the basis of sensory tests four types of food contact materials (plastic dishes) were selected for the study. The analytical measurement was performed by HS-GC/MS and SPME-GC/MS techniques parallel.

In quality examinations of samples the aliphatic and aromatic, saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons, as well as other compounds, e.g. ketones contamination was estimated. For all the samples a quantitative analysis of the content of styrene, ethylbenzene and cyclohexane was carried out. Additionally, the optimization of SPME analysis parameters was carried out. It was assumed that the optimal SPME extraction conditions for this purposes are: extraction time of 15 - 30 min, extraction temperature of 80°C, CAR/PDMS fibre.

The results of this study indicated that from two chosen analytical methods, definitely HS-GC/MS technique was more universal, as well as more comfortable and faster. Sometimes, however additional studies should be undertaken and then it is recommended to use the SPME-GC/MS technique optimized for our purposes.