Migration from plasticized films into foods. 4. Use of polymeric plasticizers and lower levels of di‐(2‐ethylhexyl)adipate plasticizer in PVC films to reduce migration into foods

Abstract

To reduce the migration of plasticizers from PVC films into foods, two approaches are proposed; firstly, the production of thinner films with a consequent reduction in the level of di‐(2‐ethylhexyl)adipate (DEHA) plasticizer normally present and, secondly, partial or total replacement of DEHA with a polymeric plasticizer. In this paper the results are reported of stringent tests applied to these alternative films. These tests involved storing cheese, cake and sandwiches wrapped in the film, and also preparing a number of microwave‐cooked foods covered with film. Migration levels were compared with those obtained from conventional film used under the same conditions. For the thinner PVC films containing 59% of the DEHA level of a conventional film (on a weight per unit area basis) the migration of DEHA was between 41 and 53% lower for the range of foods examined. Migration of polymeric plasticizer from film containing that alone was between 3 and 21 times lower than DEHA levels migrating from conventional film. For film containing a mixture of both DEHA and polymeric plasticizer, the level of migration of each was approximately half that observed from the singly plasticized films.