[New results on migration behavior of benzophenone-based UV absorbents from polyolefins in foods]

The authors deal with the migration behaviour of bezophenone-based ultraviolet absorbents for commodities of low-pressure polyethylene, high-pressure polyethlene, polypropylene and polystyrene. These ultraviolet-absorbent-stabilized plastics (up to 0.5% of ultraviolet absorbent) show a very slight tendency of the light stabilizers towards migration into aqueous, acid or dilute alcoholic foods. Very high migration values are obtained for sunflower oil, Fettsimulans HB 307 or 50% ethanol. The amount of 2-hydroxy-4-octoxybenzophenone which migrates into fat-free foods is only a fraction of the maximum daily dose; a risk to the consumers' health might thus be excluded. In fat-containing foods, the maximum daily dose is also not reached, but the single migration value is higher than the limit value (100 p.p.m.) for total migration. Consequently, the above ultraviolet absorbents should not be used for the ultraviolet stabilization of plastics designed for packing these products. An evaluation of the safety of ultraviolet absorbents of the Dastib type will be possible only if sufficient toxicological data are available.