[Consideration of the Evaporation Residue Test for Plastics Intended to Contact with Oils and Fatty Foods].

The Japanese Food Sanitation Act designates the evaporation residue test as a specification for plastics that intended to contact with foods. The test conditions and migration limits for oils and fatty foods were considered on the basis of the results obtained from the evaporation residue test according to the Japanese Act and the overall migration test into olive oil according to EN1186-2. The evaporation residue test was conducted using heptane at 25℃ for 1 hour. The results of most samples were under 30 μg/mL although those of high impact polystyrene,polymethylpentene and polyvinyl chloride were found to be over 30 μg/mL. However, these results were within the acceptable range of the relaxed limits (240, 120, 150 μg/mL). Regarding the overall migration into olive oil, most plastics were under the determination limit at 60℃ for 30 min. But the results for polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride were over 30 μg/mL at 95 and 121℃, which were higher than their evaporation residues. In other words, the existing test conditions and limits of the evaporation residue test could be used for testing plastics that come into contact with oils and fatty foods at lower temperatures. However, they are not adequate for evaluating some plastics that come into contact with oils and fatty foods at higher temperatures.