Migration Studies of Food-Packaging Biodegradable Polymers

초록

The migration of low molecular-weight substances from food-packaging biodegradable polymers was investigated. The environmental concern regarding the plastic pollution has created a demand to implement environmentally friendly bioplastics in a variety of commercial areas, including food packaging. Biodegradable plastics go through “biodegradation” that involves fragmentations and, eventually, mineralization producing harmless byproducts, such as water and carbon dioxide. Though the number of bioplastic products consisting of biodegradable polymers is increasing at a rapid rate, the migration study of biodegradable polymers has not been conducted as thoroughly as non-biodegradable counterparts. In this study, we controlled the biodegradation rate of bioplastic films by imposing numerous experimental conditions and investigated the migration of substances from the films into food simulants. The list of the substances under investigations includes monomers, which were generated from degradation, and additives, commonly incorporated into plastic products to engineer the physical properties. The migration level was measured using gas and liquid chromatographies while the thermal stability and the biodegradation properties of the bioplastics were characterized in vacuum and inert environments, independently.