Identification of the volatile compounds in polyethylene terephthalate bottles and determination of their migration content into mineral water

Abstract

This study was carried out to identify the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and to determine the extent to which VOCs migrate into mineral water during the bottling process and storage. A greater amount of nonanal and decanal was generated from the PET bottles than from the PET preforms. Benzene, ethylbenzene, nonanal, and vinyl benzoate were identified from the PET bottles when the incubation temperature of the headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) sampler was set to 60, 80, and 100°C. As the incubation temperature increased, the concentrations of nonanal, vinyl benzoate, and decanal increased significantly. When the highdensity polyethylene (HDPE) PET bottle caps were extracted with dichloromethane, the level of Irgafos 168 was found to be 206±20.1 μg/g. The concentration of 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol in water was 4.80±0.2 μg/L. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid exposing PET and HDPE resins to high temperatures during the manufacturing process and storage of bottled water.©The Korean Society of Food Science and Technology 2014.