Modelling of Migration from Printing Inks on Paper Packaging

The migration model of contaminants from inks on paper packaging to food is developed based on the penetration of ink in paper and Fick's diffusion. The printed paper is divided as ink layer and paper layer. The mass transfer coefficient h(m) and partition coefficient K-F,K-P in the interface between paper and food are considered in the model. The model equation is solved, and the migration expression is obtained by using the method of separation of variables. The fitting method is used between the model and the migration experimental data to obtain the diffusion coefficients and mass transfer coefficients for dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC). It is found that there exist linear relationships between ln(D-P) and 1/T, and also between ln(h(m)) and 1/T for DBP and ATBC. The migrations of DBP in the paper sample 2402 at different temperatures and of ATBC in the paper sample 2401 at 50 degrees C are predicted by using the model, and a good agreement is obtained between the model predictions and the migration experimental data. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.