Analysis of primary aromatic amines

Do you have a colored or printed material that you intend to use for food contact applications? Would you like to ensure that no potentially harmful substances migrate from the packaging into the food?

Printing inks, colorants, and adhesives are sources of primary aromatic amines (PAAs). These chemical compounds may enter the recycling stream and ultimately the final product during the recycling process of plastic packaging or fiber-based materials, either from previous applications or from contaminants that have not been sufficiently removed.

They are among the most critical substances that can migrate from food contact materials into food. Since PAAs are toxicologically relevant even at very low concentrations, their detection requires highly sensitive analytical methods.

We support you in reliably determining primary aromatic amines in your products and deriving a risk assessment with regard to their migration potential.

According to European legislation, primary aromatic amines must not migrate from food contact materials into food or food simulants in detectable quantities. A detection limit of 0.002 mg/kg food applies to certain PAAs, while a limit value of 0.01 mg/kg applies to the total sum of amines.

We offer a selective, sensitive, and validated LC-MS/MS multi-method for the determination of PAAs in food contact materials and articles as well as in food simulants. The method enables the simultaneous detection and quantification of numerous aromatic amines with high sensitivity and specificity.

Our target analysis of primary aromatic amines is therefore well suited for quality assurance and serves as a basis for scientifically sound food law assessments.

Would you like a comprehensive characterization of your product? Do you suspect the presence of additional migratable substances? If so, we can perform a complementary non-target screening that goes beyond the scope of target analysis.