This paper presents the outcome of the development, optimisation and validation at European Union level of an analytical method for using poly(2,6-diphenyl phenylene oxide--PPPO), which is stipulated in Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011, as food simulant E for testing specific migration from plastics into dry foodstuffs. Two methods for fortifying respectively PPPO and a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film with surrogate substances that are relevant to food contact were developed. A protocol for cleaning the PPPO and an efficient analytical method were developed for the quantification of butylhydroxytoluene (BHT), benzophenone (BP), diisobutylphthalate (DiBP), bis(2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA) and 1,2-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid, diisononyl ester (DINCH) from PPPO. A protocol for a migration test from plastics using small migration cells was also developed. The method was validated by an inter-laboratory comparison (ILC) with 16 national reference laboratories for food contact materials in the European Union. This allowed for the first time data to be obtained on the precision and laboratory performance of both migration and quantification. The results showed that the validation ILC was successful even when taking into account the complexity of the exercise. The results showed that the method performance was 7-9% repeatability standard deviation (rSD) for most substances (regardless of concentration), with 12% rSD for the high level of BHT and for DiBP at very low levels. The reproducibility standard deviation results for the 16 European Union laboratories were in the range of 20-30% for the quantification from PPPO (for the three levels of concentrations of the five substances) and 15-40% from migration experiments from the fortified plastic at 60°C for 10 days and subsequent quantification. Considering the lack of data previously available in the literature, this work has demonstrated that the validation of a method is possible both for migration from a film and for quantification into a corresponding simulant for specific migration.

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Chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents are often used for dry-cleaning clothes in the laundry industry. The object of this study was to monitor the occupational exposure of dry-clean employees coming into contact with VOXs. Twenty five workers collected their urine samples before the work shift, after 4 h of work and after the work shift. The analyses of urine samples and solvents used in dry-cleaning were performed using TLHS-DAI-GC-ECD. Chloroform was detected in all urine samples, and dichloromethane and tetrachloroethene in nearly all urine samples collected before and after the work shift. The concentrations of the compounds determined in urine samples were higher at the end of the workday in directly exposed individuals. Concentrations of the compounds determined in urine samples depended mainly on the type of activities carried out at the dry-cleaning establishments.

In this study, stir-bar sorptive extraction and thermal desorption followed by gas chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry was applied for determination of halo-organic compounds (bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, bromoform, and tetrachloroethylene) in water and human urine samples. Time of extraction and stirring speed were optimized. The results show that the optimum extraction time is 30 min with 600 rpm of stirring speed with Twister of 20 mm in length and 1.0-mm film thickness of PDMS (126 microL). The calibration curves, limits of detection and quantification for all compounds were calculated. This procedure is characterized by very low limits of detection and quantitation: lower than 0.0017 microg/L and good repeatability for all four volatile compounds. This new analytical procedure was identified to be easy, reliable, sensitive, and requires only small amounts of sample. It can constitute a good alternative to well-known procedures based on application of head space and gas chromatography coupled with electron capture detection.