Overview
Zeng et al. (2023) measured fourteen metals and metalloids released from disposable fast-food container products into hot water. The routeable occurrence signal is food-contact-material leachate, not intrinsic food contamination: paper cups, plastic cups, plastic bags, and plastic bowls were filled or contacted with freshly boiled water for 15 min and the resulting leachates were analyzed by ICP-MS. Table 1 reports mean +/- SD concentrations in microgram/L for seven experiments per product type.
Key numbers
Table 1 reports hot-water leachate concentrations as mean +/- SD (microgram/L) for each container type. The semicolon value in the source table is the ratio to the heated-distilled-water control. Chromium is reported as total chromium (Cr) without hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI) speciation; no arsenic or mercury analytes are reported.
| Metal | Heated distilled water (n = 7) | Paper cups (n = 7) | Plastic cups (n = 7) | Plastic bags (n = 7) | Plastic bowls (n = 7) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Be | 0.00250 +/- 0.001291 | 0.01900 +/- 0.000816; 7.60 | 0.02325 +/- 0.004031; 8.06 | 0.01150 +/- 0.003000; 3.83 | 0.02425 +/- 0.004992; 9.70 |
| V | 0.00100 +/- 0.000816 | 0.01475 +/- 0.002986; 14.75 | 0.01075 +/- 0.002217; 10.75 | 0.00575 +/- 0.000500; 5.75 | 0.00850 +/- 0.001291; 8.50 |
| nickel (Ni) | 0.02900 +/- 0.002309 | 0.13525 +/- 0.018626; 4.66 | 0.15075 +/- 0.050282; 5.20 | 0.09350 +/- 0.006608; 3.22 | 0.17775 +/- 0.049909; 6.13 |
| Zn | 0.31475 +/- 0.112610 | 0.99575 +/- 0.023114; 3.16 | 1.15700 +/- 0.212567; 3.68 | 9.00000 +/- 0.382896; 28.59 | 1.98700 +/- 0.365969; 6.69 |
| Mn | 0.02000 +/- 0.002449 | 0.36725 +/- 0.216206; 18.36 | 0.12575 +/- 0.033009; 6.29 | 0.10050 +/- 0.017078; 5.03 | 0.13200 +/- 0.022405; 6.60 |
| cadmium (Cd) | 0.00075 +/- 0.000500 | 0.00450 +/- 0.002380; 6.00 | 0.00300 +/- 0.000816; 4.00 | 0.00275 +/- 0.000500; 3.67 | 0.00300 +/- 0.000001; 4.00 |
| chromium (Cr) | 0.00450 +/- 0.002646 | 0.03325 +/- 0.018733; 7.39 | 0.02850 +/- 0.017711; 6.33 | 0.02225 +/- 0.013500; 4.94 | 0.05250 +/- 0.037177; 11.67 |
| Co | 0.00350 +/- 0.001732 | 0.02150 +/- 0.013528; 6.14 | 0.01450 +/- 0.006191; 4.14 | 0.01600 +/- 0.016951; 4.57 | 0.01175 +/- 0.005560; 3.36 |
| Sb | 0.05050 +/- 0.001000 | 0.05550 +/- 0.003697; 1.10 | 0.05500 +/- 0.001826; 1.09 | 0.05200 +/- 0.002449; 1.03 | 0.05750 +/- 0.001732; 1.14 |
| Ba | 0.24650 +/- 0.033670 | 0.46175 +/- 0.053656; 1.87 | 0.43570 +/- 0.028548; 1.77 | 8.21475 +/- 0.084862; 33.33 | 0.72550 +/- 0.420302; 2.94 |
| lead (Pb) | 0.01350 +/- 0.003786 | 0.01675 +/- 0.000500; 1.24 | 0.01550 +/- 0.001732; 1.15 | 0.01700 +/- 0.000816; 1.26 | 0.01525 +/- 0.000500; 1.13 |
| Fe | 0.38575 +/- 0.035650 | 0.66850 +/- 0.220376; 1.73 | 0.41750 +/- 0.095221; 1.08 | 0.38625 +/- 0.014818; 1.01 | 0.44425 +/- 0.053897; 1.15 |
| Cu | 0.03525 +/- 0.029193 | 0.06700 +/- 0.034554; 1.90 | 0.07600 +/- 0.055595; 2.16 | 0.20175 +/- 0.100304; 5.72 | 0.09500 +/- 0.016513; 2.70 |
| Se | 0.01750 +/- 0.010376 | 0.02475 +/- 0.019276; 1.41 | 0.01800 +/- 0.016753; 1.03 | 0.02675 +/- 0.032139; 1.53 | 0.01775 +/- 0.010210; 1.01 |
Methods (brief)
The study tested disposable paper cups, plastic cups, plastic bags, and plastic bowls. For each test, 300 mL freshly boiled water was added to the container or bag system and held for 15 min; each container type had seven parallel experiments. Leachates were filtered through a 0.45 micrometer filter, acidified with 3.0% HNO3, and analyzed by ICP-MS (NexION 300). Calibration used a ten-point curve from 0.001 to 50.0 microgram/L; reported recoveries were 92.1%-107.8% and RSD values were <15%.
Implications
This source provides food-contact-material migration evidence for disposable paper and plastic fast-food containers under a hot-water contact condition. The strongest Table 1 signals are Zn and Ba from plastic bags and lower-microgram-per-liter releases of nickel (Ni), Mn, Cr, Cu, and other analytes from cups and bowls. The values should route to food-contact packaging or tableware rows and should remain separate from food-commodity occurrence datasets.
Related evidence
- Paperboard cartons
- Plastic drinkware
- Flexible pouches/films
- Plastic tubs
- Beryllium
- Vanadium
- Nickel
- Zinc
- Manganese
- Cadmium
- Chromium
- Cobalt
- Antimony
- Barium
- Lead
- Iron
- Copper
- Selenium
Update history
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