engleski

A study on the food contact suitability of recycled paper and board

The suitability of recycled paper packaging materials for direct food contact applications is a major area of investigation. The evaluation of food contact suitability was conducted on two commercially produced recycled papers. The white top testliner and the fluting paper, commonly used as integral parts of corrugated container, were tested. Selected papers were also submitted to additional chemical cleaning, which was obtained by means of laboratory deinking flotation. The aim of this experiment was to evaluate a possible decrease in the amount of chemical contaminants in the deinked pulp after laboratory deinking flotation had been conducted. Two original paper samples as well as their corresponding deinked pulp handsheets were checked for the presence of potentially harmful substances that are usually found as residues of recycling procedures. Food contact analyses comprised determination of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Hg), primary aromatic amines, diisopropylnaphthalenes (DIPN), phthalates and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) from aqueous or organic solvent extracts of paper samples. It was found that all amounts of measured contaminants were below the maximum limit of concentration proposed for these compounds by the European legislation. Furthermore, deinking flotation applied on the white testliner and fluting samples had a positive effect on the reduction of chemical contaminants from the deinked pulp.

food packaging ; health safety ; recycled fibres ; chemical deinking flotation ; reduction of contaminants

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