Identification of Migrants from Polylactic Acid Straws by Ultrahigh Performance Liquid Chromatography£­Quadrupole Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry

KeyWord:PLA straws  ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography£­quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry£¨UHPLC£­QTOF MS£©  migrant identification  hazard assessment

Abstract:

      In this study£¬different polylactic acid£¨PLA£© straw samples were collected£¬and migration experiments were carried out to simulate the usage of PLA straws in real cases. Then£¬an ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography£­quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry£¨UHPLC£­QTOF MS£© method was developed for analysis of the chemicals migrated from PLA straws into food simulants£®Identification of the migrants was performed via both targeted and non-targeted screening procedures£®A total of 30 migrants were identified in different straw samples and food simulants. These identified migrants could be divided into two categories£¬i.e. oligomers and additives£®Considered as non-intentionally added substances£¨NIAS£©£¬the oligomers mainly included polybutylene succinate£¨PBA£© and butylene glycol-hexane diacid-terephthalate acid copolymer£¨PBAT£© in cyclic form£®The additives included antioxidants£¬lubricants and plasticizers£¬ as well as the NIAS related to them such as raw materials£¬impurities£¬byproducts£¬etc£®Among all migrants£¬only 5 of them were found in the positive list of GB9685£­2016£®Hazard assessment on the rest migrants were performed using threshold of toxicological concern£¨TTC£© approach combined with Cramer decision tree£®Most of them were assigned Cramer class ¢ó£¨high toxicity£©£¬which required special attention to ensure the safe use of PLA straws.