Mineral-Oil Analytic

Particularly due to the contained aromatic hydrocarbon compounds (MOAH, mineral oil aromatic hydro-carbons), surveillance authorities have intensified their focus in the direction of mineral oil compounds from paper and other packaging materials and their migration potential into food. MOAH are estimated as being mutagenic and with carcinogenic potential. Therefore, transfers of such substances from packaging into food items are undesirable and should be reduced as much as possible. However, data on toxicity of mineral oils is insufficient. Moreover, there are partial deficits in the differentiation of the mineral oil fractions between MOSH (mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons), MOAH as well as hydrocarbons out of polymers (POSH, PAO).

The research project deals with the development of practicable methods for the determination of transfers of mineral oil compounds from food packaging into food items. Indeed, it already has been intensively working on these problems since many years (e. g. by online coupled LC GC system). However, the methods are analytically very demanding and partially not efficient enough. In addition, practicable and realistic test conditions for migration tests are lacking. Therefore, for a better understanding of the processes during migration of mineral oil compounds from paper and other packaging materials, comparative studies of packaging in conjunction with migration trials (real fillings and simulants as well as kinetics) are carried out.