Abstract
In order to confirm the possibility that recycled fractions from the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) stream were illegally entering the European market in black polymeric food-contact articles (FCAs), bromine quantification, brominated flame retardant (BFR) identification combined with WEEE-relevant elemental analysis and polymer impurity analysis were performed. From the 10 selected FCAs, seven samples contained a bromine level ranging from 57 to 5975 mg kg−1, which is lower than expected to achieve flame retardancy. The BFRs that were present were tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), decabromodiphenylether (decaBDE), decabromodiphenylethane (DBDPE) and 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE). Typical elements used in electronic equipment and present in WEEE were detected either at trace level or at elevated concentrations. In all cases when bromine was detected at higher concentrations, concurrently antimony was also detected, which confirms the synergetic use of antimony in combination with BFRs. This study describes also the measurement of rare earth elements where combinations of cerium, dysprosium, lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium and yttrium were detected in four of the seven BFR-positive samples. Additionally, polymer purity was investigated where in all cases foreign polymer fractions were detected. Despite the fact that this study was carried out on a very small amount of samples, there is a significant likelihood that WEEE has been used for the production of FCAs.
Highlights
Polymeric food-contact articles (FCAs) are an important group of products that directly influence the quality of food and drinks by releasing a certain amount of chemical constituents by migration
This paper describes three different ways for proving the likelihood that waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has been used for the production of FCAs: the presence of brominated flame retardant (BFR) in FCAs followed by the presence of WEEE-related elements and, the identification of macromolecular contaminants
The highest Br level was found in a polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) sample with 5975 mg kg−1 Br from tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and DBDPE, while the lowest detectable Br level was found in a PP/PE sample containing 57 mg kg−1 Br from TBBPA and decaBDE
Summary
Polymeric food-contact articles (FCAs) are an important group of products that directly influence the quality of food and drinks by releasing a certain amount of chemical constituents by migration. All polymeric materials and polymeric articles intended to come into contact with food such as packaging materials, cutlery and dishes, kitchen processing machines, food containers and materials/articles in contact with water for human consumption fall under the definition of polymeric FCAs. The polymeric material used for the production of such an articles should be preferable food grade and the usage of technical-grade polymers or recycled polymeric waste streams should be avoided as such. Polymeric FCAs are regulated within the European Union by European Commission Regulation 10/2011 (European Commission 2011a). This regulation describes an overall migration test using defined food simulants measuring the amount of non-
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