Characterization of odorants in inflatable aquatic toys and swimming learning devices—which substances are causative for the characteristic odor and potentially harmful?

Abstract

Based on the observation of intense and offensive smells in the product group of aquatic toys, four representative products were exemplarily chosen and sensorially characterized by an expert panel. Panellists reported mostly almond- and rubber-like notes for three of the four samples, whereas the smell of the fourth sample was dominated by organic solvent-associated notes such as "nail polish-like." To elucidate the molecular reasons of these smells, we isolated the volatile fraction of the product by solvent extraction and high vacuum distillation, and identified the main odorants by aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA), followed by one- and two-dimensional gas chromatography, with parallel mass spectrometric and olfactometric detection. Additionally, the materials of the samples were identified by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy (ATR-spectroscopy), and Beilstein halogen test. Between 32 and 46 odors could be detected in each sample by means of AEDA, whereby five to 13 of these compounds were detectable with by far the highest dilution factors, and were found to primarily correlate with the smells of the respective products. Focussing the subsequent identification on these causative substances led to the successful identification of the majority of these odorants. Among them were several mono- or di-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and their epoxidized derivatives, which are typical odorous artefacts from fatty acid oxidation, but also odor-active organic solvents such as cyclohexanone, isophorone, and phenol.

Quick insights into whisky – investigating rapid and efficient methods for sensory evaluation and chemical analysis

“…Within comprehensive aroma or odorant analyses, e.g. for the determination of key aroma compounds, often a correlation between the most potent odorants (as characterized by high flavor or odor dilution factors) and the predominant sensory attributes can be observed [11,46,47]. For this purpose, odor qualities as well as odor thresholds and resulting odor activity values [11,20,48] for the detected compounds could be included in the presented automated processing.…”

Welches analytische Potenzial steckt darin?

“…Vor allem in der Lebensmittelindustrie und der Lebensmittelkontrolle können solche zellfreien Sensorsysteme bei der Beurteilung der Qualität sowie sensorischer Eigenschaften von Interesse und großem Nutzen sein. Da bereits zahlreiche Schlechtgerüche in Lebensmitteln und Gebrauchsgegenständen [12,[25][26][27][28][29], oder aus diesen auf Lebensmittel übergegangene Gerüche [30][31][32], oder auch Kinderspielzeug [33][34][35][36], beschrieben sind und diese neben der Produktqualität auch die Verbraucherakzeptanz beeinträchtigen.…”

The Blossoming of Technology for the Analysis of Complex Aroma Bouquets—A Review on Flavour and Odorant Multidimensional and Comprehensive Gas Chromatography Applications

“…Buettner and co-workers [168,169,170,171] used MDGC-MS/O techniques to investigate intense malodours and hazardous chemicals in children toys, balloons, balls, hairbrushes, inflatable pillows, elastic therapeutic tapes, artists’ acrylic paint and other commercial products. Some of the most intense and unpleasant odours detected in these products were classified as car tyre/rubber-like, pungent, burning sensation, artificial leather-like, plastic-like, glue-like and nail-polish-like.…”