Migration of monomers from liquid crystalline poly(p-hydroxybenzoic acid-co-2-hydroxy-6-naphthoic acid) (vol 19, pg 492, 2002)

Liquid-crystalline co-polyesters (e.g. a random copolyester based on p-hydroxybenzoic acid (HBA) and 2-hydroxy- 6-naphthoic acid (HNA) known as Vectra A950) offer good barrier properties, but for food-contact use they require overall and specific migration testing. For Vectra A950 films, the highest overall migration level obtained was 2.3 mg dm(-2) (13.8 mg kg(-1)) in olive oil (10 days at 40 degreesC), well below the EC limit of 10 mg dm(-2) (60 mg kg(-1)). The highest specific migration of HBA was 15.2 mug dm(-2) (91.2 mug kg(-1)) in olive oil (2 h at 175 degreesC). In this case, the migration level was well below the EC limit of 10 mg dm(-2) (60 mg kg(-1)). For HNA, the highest value obtained was 4.3 mug dm(-2) (26 mug kg(-1)) in 10% ethanol (4 h at 100 degreesC), well below the specific migration limit (SML = 50 mug kg(-1)). The results obtained shows that even at these severe conditions, the migration values comply with the new European Union Directive 2002/ 72/EC, which regulates plastic materials and articles for food contact use. In addition, the polymer Vectra A950 complies with Food Contact Notification (FCN) No. 103 of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Vectra A950 is therefore permitted for food-contact use both in the European Union and the USA.