Abstract
Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) is used in various adhesive, paint, and transparent tape applications. It is also used as a food additive in food manufacturing to make chewing gum and fruit and vegetable glazes; however, guidelines on the amount of food additives that is used have not yet been established. In this study, a method was developed for analysis of polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) using high-performance liquid chromatography with an evaporative light scattering detector (HPLC–ELSD) and pyrolyzer–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py–GC–MS). The analytical methods were applied to commercially available chewing gum. In the HPLC–ELSD analysis, the linearity was acceptable (R2 > 0.999), and the limits of detection and quantification were 22.2 and 67.3 µg/mL, respectively. The accuracies of PVAc were 87–115% at spike levels of 200–1000 µg/mL for the intra- and inter-day tests. The contents of PVAc in the chewing gum samples were n.d. (not detected)—13.8 g/kg. The presence of PVAc in chewing gum was verified with Py–GC–MS analysis, finding the typical pyrolysates of PVAc, such as acetic acid, benzene, toluene, styrene, indane, naphthalene, and acenaphthene. The developed analytical methods can be applied for successful identification of PVAc in chewing gum.
Highlights
Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) is a polymer of vinyl acetate that is obtained by reacting acetic acid with ethylene, which is produced from petroleum (Figure 1)
Typical pyrolysates of PVAc, such as acetic acid, benzene, toluene, indane, indene, methylindenes, naphthalene, and acenaphthene, which have been reported in the literature (Sellier et al.), were observed in the pyrogram [8]
The acetic acid peak was more intense than the peaks of the other pyrolysates of PVAc
Summary
Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) is a polymer of vinyl acetate that is obtained by reacting acetic acid with ethylene, which is produced from petroleum (Figure 1). It is a colorless or pale-yellow glassy mass that is insoluble in water and oils but completely hydrolyzed in esters and alcohols such as ethyl acetate and ethanol. PVAc is used in various adhesive, paint, printing ink, and transparent tape applications It is used as a food additive in food manufacturing to make gum, fruit and vegetable glazes, and gum. PVAc is allowed to be used as a vegetable coating agent and chewing gum base in Japan, and as a chewing gum base in the US, and guidelines for its use in both countries are set according to good manufacturing practices, as in Korea [4,5]
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