EXPERIMENTAL

NOTES Clarus™ 680 with FID and TurboMatrix HS

GC-HS-FOOD Author
Dr. Padmaja Prabhu
Application Specialist- Chromatography
Material Characterization
Customer Knowledge Centre for Analytical Sciences
PerkinElmer (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Thane – 400 615 India.
Email: application.india@perkinelmer.com

Determination of solvent residues

in food packing material by
Headspace Gas Chromatography
Abstract
Packaging materials have been used for the easy handling and transport of various
products, so as to maintain the integrating of the product. These materials could be
polymer based or cellulose based. In order, to improve the visual appeal, various dyes,
paints are also used. Various types of solvent based inks are also used for printing. These
polymers or inks could migrate into the product and effect taste or smell and could also
be harmful. Therefore, they must be carefully monitored and quantitated to ensure that
the amounts of these extraneous ingredients are limited.
The work presented in this experiment describes the detection of volatile organic solvents
and their contents in food packing materials. A static headspace analysis was automated
by using PerkinElmer® TurboMatrix™ Headspace (HS) sampler with the Clarus® 680 Gas
Chromatograph with Flame Ionization Detector (FID).

Stock solution Sample introduction

One milliliter each of ethyl acetate, toluene, methyl isobutyl
ketone, Isopropanol, and acetone were mixed in a vial. 2 ml of
this was diluted to 100 ml with DMSO. A 2 ml aliquot of the
solution was further diluted to 100 ml with DMSO. 1ml of this
solution was taken into a HS vial and the test was performed.
The food packaging material was cut into 10 x 10 cm pieces. This
was further cut down into smaller pieces and introduced in the HS
vial. The test was performed as per the method
 Clarus 600 Gas Chromatograph Instrument Details Analytical results & conclusions
Analytical Column PerkinElmer Elite - 624 (30 meter, 0.53 mm The residues of the solvents were determined in two samples of
i.d., 3.0 µm df) food packing materials. These were analyzed using the HS-GC
GC column Flow 1.0 mL/min Helium at constant flow mode FID method discussed in this work. Both the samples contained
GC inlet temperature 140ºC 0.05 mg per sq mts of ethyl acetate and 0.004 mg per sq mts of
Split ratio Splitless toluene.

Oven temperature 40ºC hold for 5.0 min, 10ºC/min to

120ºC and hold for 2.0 min, 20ºC/min Conclusion
to 240ºC and hold for This application note presents a simple and effective method
programme 4.0 min runtime is 25 minutes. for the determination of solvent residues in food packaging
FID temperature 280ºC material using static headspace-GCMS. The method is fast,
reliable, and can be used for the quantification of the solvents
TurboMatrix HS-40 Headspace Parameters
specified in this note. The same method can also be applied
Temperatures Thermostating 110
to other solvents with some modifications to the oven
Needle 170 temperature program.
Transfer line 180
Time Injection 0.2 minutes
Pressurization 2.0 minutes
Withdrawal 0.2 minutes
Equilibration 20 minutes
Options Cycle 25 minutes
Shaker ON
Operation Mode Constant
Injection mode Time
PPC Inject 25 PSI
Chromatogram showing separation of volatile organics from a standard mixture