The 'vapour-phase' migration of styrene from general purpose polystyrene and high impact polystyrene into cooking oil

General purpose and high impact polystyrene (GPPS and HIPS, respectively) are used in many food packaging applications. In some packaging configurations, where there is no direct contact of a liquid surface with the polymer, 'vapour-phase' migration of styrene monomer from the polymer with subsequent absorption into food is thought to be a significant mode of transfer. Correlation of residual styrene concentrations in polystyrene with vapour-phase styrene migration is of interest in order to predict potential consumer exposure to styrene from food-packaging applications of this configuration. Studies of the migration of styrene from GPPS and HIPS into air with subsequent absorption of the monomer into cooking oil, 'vapour-phase' migration, was determined in a sealed system. The results showed that for both polymers the amount of styrene migrating from the polystyrene and being absorbed by the oil was proportional to the square root of the time of exposure. The diffusion coefficients calculated for the vapour-phase migration of styrene from both polymers were found to be in good agreement with the diffusion coefficients previously determined for the 'liquid-phase' migration of styrene from similar polymers where the polymers were completely submerged in the cooking oil. These results indicate that the styrene concentrations measured in both experiments were attributable to the intrinsic diffusion of styrene from polystyrene, and that contact with cooking oil did not accelerate migration in previous experiments.