Phthalate esters (PEs) belong to a class of organic compounds used as plasticisers
in plastic materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP),
polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and so on, including those used in the food
packaging industry. Phthalate plasticisers are not chemically bound to plastic
materials and hence, migrate into items such as foodstuffs they house. The study
aimed at investigating the prevalence of selected phthalate esters from plastic
wrappers into food as well as the presence of food and/or pathogenic microorganisms.
Plastic-wrapped cheese, vienna sausages and polony samples purchased from
commercial stores in the four regions of Pretoria (Tswane), South Africa, were
analysed for the presence of plasticisers; di-2-ethylhexyl adipate (DEHA), di-n-butyl
phthalate (DnBP), benzyl-butyl phthalate (BBP), di-butyl phthalate (DBP) and dimethyl
phthalate (DMP). Soxhlet extraction using hexane with florisil column cleanup
was carried out. Analysis of PEs was by Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization
Detection (GC-FID). Microbiological investigations were performed using standard
methods.
The concentrations of PEs detected in food samples ranged from below detection
limit (bdl) to 4.7003 μg/kg. However, DBP, DMP and BBP were predominantly
present with more PEs detected in cheese compared to polony and vienna. In polony
samples, DBP levels ranged from 0.0412 to 0.611μg/kg, in cheese, ranged from
0.049 to 0.256 μg/kg and in vienna DBP ranged from 0.074 to 0.209 μg/kg. The
phthalate DMP ranged from 0.072 to 4.700 μg/kg in cheese, 0.056 to 0.241 μg/kg in
polony and 0.092 to 0.816 μg/kg in vienna. The DEHA detected in cheese and
polony was 0.120 μg/kg and 0.075 μg/kg respectively and no DEHA was detected in
vienna sausages.
For microbiological analysis, the total microbial activity (TMA) ranged from 6.8 x 104
to 1.03 x 108 cfu/g; coliforms ranged from no growth to 2.62 x 106 cfu/g; yeast ranged
from no growth to 1.49 x 107 cfu/g; and mould ranged from no growth to 9.2 x 104
cfu/g. The results revealed that microbial activity was high in each sample type but
revealed the absence of pathogens. Results revealed incidences of PEs in foods wrapped or packaged in plastics, which gave cause for concern and showed the
need for proper monitoring and inspection of the levels of organo-microbial entities in
the South African food wrapped in plastic wrappers. / Environmental Sciences / M.Sc. (Environmental Science)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:umkn-dsp01.int.unisa.ac.za:10500/6864 |
| Date | 10 1900 |
| Creators | Masakona, Ndingoho |
| Contributors | Awofolu, Omotayo Rafiu |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (xvi, 132 leaves) : col. ill., col. maps |
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