Food Quality and Safety , 2025, 9 , fyaf002 https://doi.org/10.1093/fqsafe/fyaf002 Advance access publication 11 January 2025 Article
Article Migration of toxic elements from recycled paper food contact materials to food simulants: compatibility and influence of sample preparation methods Athanasios Kourkopoulos 1, * , , DickTheodorus Hubertus Maria Sijm 1,2 , and Misha Vrolijk 1 1 Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands 2 Office for Risk Assessment and Research, Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), Utrecht, The Netherlands * Correspondence to: Athanasios Kourkopoulos, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 50, 6229 ER Maastricht, The Netherlands. E-mail: a.kourkopoulos@maastrichtuniversity.nl Abstract The presence of toxic elements in paper and board food contact materials (FCMs) has been previously shown by various studies employing different sample preparation methods. This study elucidates the influence of migration methods on the migration of toxic elements from re- cycled paper FCMs to food simulants and compares these methods with exhaustive extraction approaches. Migration samples were prepared with four food simulants as specified in the Commission Regulation (EU) 10/2011: 3% (volume fraction) acetic acid, 10% (volume fraction) and 50% (volume fraction) ethanol, and Tenax. The extraction process underestimated the number and quantity of elements. Migration methodolo- gies revealed distinct element transfer patterns influenced by the physicochemical properties of the food simulants. Toxic elements, including aluminum, cobalt, nickel, arsenic, lead, cadmium, barium, and uranium, were detected in quantities exceeding safety reference values. These findings underscore the need for harmonized migration testing and regulatory-specific migration limits.
Graphical Abstract
Keywords: Toxic elements; paper food contact materials; migration; sample preparation; hazard assessment.
Introduction The migration of heavy metals from recycled paper and board food contact materials (FCMs) is a significant concern due to potential health risks. Recycled paper and board FCMs currently receive significant attention in food contact appli- cations due to their biodegradability and the current polit- ical strategies for the sustainable use of plastic FCMs. Among various other contaminants, paper and board FCMs may contain residual hazardous elements from original sources or
processing aids, including inks, adhesives, and other sources. These elements can migrate from FCMs into food, and sub- sequently, following the intake of food, pose risks to con- sumers. According to the FCCmigex database entries (https:// foodpackagingforum.org/resources/databases/fccmigex), various studies detected chromium (29), cadmium (26), lead (25), mercury (17), arsenic (16), barium (13), and antimony (11) in paper and cardboard FCMs via migration or extrac- tion procedures. In addition, other less common hazardous
Received 24 October 2024; Revised 13 December 2024; Editorial decision 29 December 2024
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Zhejiang University Press. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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