Effect of 2-Methylanthraquinone on Soda Cooking of Bamboo

Anthraquinone(AQ)had attracted attention as an additive of alkali cooking since 1972,but International Agency for Research on Cancer reported that AQ had mutagenic or carcinogenic possibilities in 2012. In order to utilize bamboo as a non-wood paper resource and to find a safe and efficient cooking method of bamboo pulp,this study clarified the effects of using 2- methyl anthraquinone(2-MAQ),which was not mutagenic, on bamboo soda cooking and the residual content of 2-MAQ in the pulp. The addition of 0.06% 2-MAQ to soda cooking of bamboo chips increases the pulp yield by 3.0% at the same kappa number around 17 compared with no addition, which implies benefits of saving forest resources and fossil energy in paper industry. Analytical data shows that one kg of the unbleached bamboo pulp contained 0.02 - 0.11 mg 2-MAQ as a very low quantity,and that the quantity transferred from packaging-paper and paperboard produced using the soda 2-MAQ pulp to food should not cause the carcinogenicity.