Determination of various constituent elements of polyethylene terephthalate bottles used for beverages in Japan |
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Authors: | Eri Kishi Asako Ozaki Tomoko Ooshima Yutaka Abe Motoh Mutsuga Yukihiko Yamaguchi Tetsuo Yamano |
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Affiliation: | 1. Division of Hygienic Chemistry, Osaka Institute of Public Health, Osaka, Japan;2. Division of Food Additives, National Institute of Health Sciences, Kawasaki-shi, Japan |
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Abstract: | Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are some of the most commonly used containers for beverages. During the manufacturing process of PET resin in Japan, metallic catalysts such as Sb and Ge are widely used, with other metals or metallic compounds also being employed to improve the quality of PET bottles. However, few reports into the contents of such elements exist. Thus, we herein report the concentrations of 34 elements (ie, Li, B, Na, Mg, Al, P, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Zr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Cs, Ba, W, Pb, and U) in 16 samples of unused virgin PET bottles for beverages. The measurement was performed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and these bottles were found to contain five main elements (ie, <0.5- to 50-mg/kg Ge, <1- to 26-mg/kg Ti, <0.1- to 279-mg/kg Sb, <10- to 48-mg/kg P, and <0.5- to 53-mg/kg Co) that were used as polymerisation catalysts, stabilisers, oxidation catalysts, and bluing agents. Furthermore, when these residual element concentrations in 21 commercial mineral-water PET bottles were determined, there was no significant difference from unused bottles. |
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Keywords: | antimony elemental analysis germanium ICP-MS polyethylene terephthalate bottle |
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