Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) Clean-Up of Plastic Additives from Edible Oils

This application note describes the use of GPC clean-up to separate a variety of plastics additives such as phthalates, Chimassorb® 81( a UV absorber and stabilizer), Irganox® 1076 (an optical brightener) and Uvitex® OB (an antioxidant and thermal stabilizer) from a representative edible oil sample prior to analysis. A variety of additives are often added to plastics in the food industry, such plasticizers (such as phthalates) to improve flexibility, UV filters for protection from sunlight, brightening agents, coloring agents and preservatives. Some of these additives may migrate into food products that have been packaged using plastics. GPC is a size exclusion clean-up procedure that uses organic solvents and a hydrophobic gel to separate macromolecules. It is a highly effective method for the removal of high molecular weight interferences such as lipids from a fatty food prior to analysis for the compounds of interest.