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Determination of various constituent elements of polyethylene terephthalate bottles used for beverages in Japan
Author(s) -
Kishi Eri,
Ozaki Asako,
Ooshima Tomoko,
Abe Yutaka,
Mutsuga Motoh,
Yamaguchi Yukihiko,
Yamano Tetsuo
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
packaging technology and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1099-1522
pISSN - 0894-3214
DOI - 10.1002/pts.2497
Subject(s) - inductively coupled plasma , polyethylene terephthalate , inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy , inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry , nuclear chemistry , metal , catalysis , chemistry , polyethylene , materials science , mass spectrometry , metallurgy , chromatography , plasma , organic chemistry , composite material , physics , quantum mechanics
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are some of the most commonly used containers for beverages. During the manufacturing process of PET resin in Japan, metallic catalysts such as Sb and Ge are widely used, with other metals or metallic compounds also being employed to improve the quality of PET bottles. However, few reports into the contents of such elements exist. Thus, we herein report the concentrations of 34 elements (ie, Li, B, Na, Mg, Al, P, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Zr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Cs, Ba, W, Pb, and U) in 16 samples of unused virgin PET bottles for beverages. The measurement was performed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP‐OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS), and these bottles were found to contain five main elements (ie, <0.5‐ to 50‐mg/kg Ge, <1‐ to 26‐mg/kg Ti, <0.1‐ to 279‐mg/kg Sb, <10‐ to 48‐mg/kg P, and <0.5‐ to 53‐mg/kg Co) that were used as polymerisation catalysts, stabilisers, oxidation catalysts, and bluing agents. Furthermore, when these residual element concentrations in 21 commercial mineral‐water PET bottles were determined, there was no significant difference from unused bottles.