Analysis of microplastics released from plastic take-out food containers based on thermal properties and morphology study

Plastic take-out food containers may release microplastics (MPs) into food and pose a potential risk to food safety and human health. Here, after being subjected to hot water treatment, MPs released from three types of plastic food containers (polypropylene, PP; polyethylene, PE; expanded polystyren...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Food additives & contaminants. Part A, Chemistry, analysis, control, exposure & risk assessment Chemistry, analysis, control, exposure & risk assessment, 2023-02, Vol.40 (2), p.305-318
Main Authors: Hu, Jia-Ling, Duan, Yipin, Zhong, Huai-Ning, Lin, Qin-Bao, Zhang, Tianlong, Zhao, Chuang-Chuang, Chen, Sheng, Dong, Ben, Li, Dan, Wang, Jing, Mo, Ming-Zhen, Chen, Jie, Zheng, Jian-Guo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Containers
Defects
Environmental Monitoring
Food
Food Packaging
Food safety
Humans
mechanism of microplastics release
micro-Raman
Microplastics
Microplastics - analysis
Morphology
Plastics
Plastics - analysis
Polyethylenes
Polymers
Polypropylene
Polystyrene
Polystyrene resins
Raman spectroscopy
take-out food containers
Takeaway food
Thermal properties
Thermal stability
Thermodynamic properties
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
Water treatment
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Summary:Plastic take-out food containers may release microplastics (MPs) into food and pose a potential risk to food safety and human health. Here, after being subjected to hot water treatment, MPs released from three types of plastic food containers (polypropylene, PP; polyethylene, PE; expanded polystyrene, EPS) were identified by micro-Raman spectroscopy. The results showed that the size of released MPs ranged from 0.8-38 μm and over 96% MPs were smaller than 10 μm. Various MPs concentrations were found from the three types of containers, that is, 1.90 × 10 4 , 1.01 × 10 5 , and 2.82 × 10 6 particles/L on average from PP, PE, and EPS, respectively. Moreover, based on thermal and morphology analysis, we discovered that both relaxations of the polymer chains in the rubbery state and defects caused by processing techniques might contribute to the release of MPs. Thus, such release can be reduced by increasing the thermal stability of the materials and mitigating the defects generated during production.
ISSN:1944-0049
1944-0057
DOI:10.1080/19440049.2022.2157894