Within the scope of screening tests, (food) contact materials, e.g. made from plastics or elastomers, are extracted under defined conditions or migrated in contact with food simulants or water and then analysed using one- or two-dimensional gas chromatography. The identification is usually based on mass spectra up to a defined concentration (e.g. 10 ppb) and a semi-quantitative determination is performed using internal standards. The example below shows a typical GC-MS screening of a plastic article made from polyethylene in contact with drinking water according to DIN EN 12873 [3] in combination with DIN EN 15768 [5].

We offer the specific determination of homologous oligomers (usually up to 1000 Daltons) as extractables or migratables from almost all polymeric materials. The analytical approaches are based on state-of-the-art scientific methods. The example below shows the determination of oligomers in the aqueous migrate (3rd migration) from a food contact material made of polyamide (co-polymer of PA 6, PA 6.6. and PA 6T6I) using HPLC-UV/MS.

On customer request, we develop analytical methods for the specific determination of target analytes, e.g. for quantification of residual contents in the materials and articles. This may include a comprehensive method validation. The example below shows the determination of a cross-linker 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (AMEO, CAS: 919-30-2) from a multi-component coating using HPLC-MS/MS (MRM) after specific extraction. The quantification was carried out according to standard addition procedures in order to compensate for matrix effects in the analysis.

Provided that method development was part of the offer, our comprehensive test reports include all important validation parameters and experimental findings (instrumental setups, representative chromatograms, calibration curves, recovery data, etc.).