Evaluation of metal concentrations in food packaging materials: Relation to human health

The determination of iron, cobalt, nickel, manganese, cadmium, chromium, lead, and copper in 39 different food packaging materials from Turkey was performed by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The contents of the investigated packaging materials included cheeses, fast-foods, meats, candy, desserts, fish, milk-containing sweets, fresh pasta, mixed nuts, bagels, goodies, olives, cheesecake bars, pudding, coffee, patty, sausage, and pizza. The packaging samples (7.48-134.4 g m²) were immersed in 3% (v/v) acetic acid for 24 hours at 40 °C to allow for migration prior to the determination of the metal concentrations. Good accuracy was obtained as verified by the analysis of certified reference material (CRM) NIST-SRM 1570a Trace Elements in Spinach Leaves. The analyte concentrations in the packaging material samples were found to range from 0.13-221.2, 0.32-11.1,0.05-33-2, 0.05-101.9, 0.04-3.09, 0.23-4.10, 0.42-22.1, and 0.03-58.2 μg g'¹ for Fe, Co, Ni, Mn, Cd, Cr, Pb, and Cu, respectively.