Assessment of phthalate esters migration in plastic products marketed in Turkey for food use

Phthalates have been characterized as endocrine disruptors and migrated from plastic products for food use. The migration of five phthalates: di‐butylphthalate (DBP), butyl‐benzyl‐phthalate (BBP), bis(2‐ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), di‐isononylphthalate (DINP) and di‐isodecylphthalate (DIDP), from various plastic products for food use into different food simulant (3% acetic acid, 10% ethyl alcohol and oil) through different polymer coating [(polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PETE)] was studied. This study showed that phthalates are found in all plastic products for food use that are common in Turkey. DBP, DINP and DIDP were not detected or detected at lower levels than their limit of quantification (LOQ) values in all analyzed samples. The results showed that DEHP was the predominant phthalate in only acetic acid and ethyl alcohol food simulants, followed by BBP, found in only samples analyzed in ethyl alcohol simulants. The concentration of DEHP in the samples, higher than the LOQ value, was within 5.23–8.89 µg/kg, while BBP was only detected in ethyl alcohol simulant, ranging between 5.31 to 6.49 µg/kg. However, the concentration of DEHP and BBP did not exceed their specific migration limits established by Regulation of the Commission (EU) No. 10/2011: 0.6 mg/kg for DEHP and 6 mg/kg for BBP.