[Improvement of the Material Test Method for Diphenyl Carbonate and Bisphenol A in Polycarbonate Food Apparatuses,...

After addressing analytical issues, including the decomposition of diphenyl carbonate (DPC), we developed a modified analytical method for the determination of DPC and bisphenol A (BPA) in polycarbonate food apparatuses, containers, and packaging. In this method, the specification value for BPA was defined as the sum of BPA, phenol (PH), and p-tert-butylphenol (BuPH). Following the improvement of the analytical procedure, a validation study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the modified analytical method. The repeatability, within-laboratory reproducibility, and trueness were estimated to be 0.1-0.3%, 0.3-0.9%, and 98-100% for DPC; 0.2-0.3%, 0.3-1.5%, and 101-102% for BPA; 0.2-0.4%, 0.4-0.7%, and 97-98% for PH; and 0.2-0.4%, 0.2-0.4%, and 99-100% for BuPH, respectively, at three concentration levels. These results indicate that the modified analytical method is suitable for evaluating compliance with the specifications for DPC and BPA.