Specific migration of mineral oil (MOSH/POSH and MOAH) into Tenax

Specific migration of mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH), including mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) with polyolefin oligomeric hydrocarbons (POSH) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) from food contact materials (FCM) into food simulant E (Tenax, MPPO).

The results are reported as the concentrations of groups of MOSH/POSH and MOAH, with the groups being based on the number of carbons in the substances. The reporting unit is mg of MOSH/POSH or MOAH per dm2 of FCM or mg of MOSH/POSH or MOAH per kg of food simulant. Additionally, the result includes the sum amounts of all MOSH/POSH and MOAH together with the total amount of MOH (MOSH + MOAH).

The POSH are not part of MOH but they can be present in polyolefin plastics, such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). MOSH and POSH have very similar structures and they tend to elute together in chromatography. Thus, in polyolefin plastics and materials with polyolefin layers, it is usually impossible to distinguish between MOSH and POSH with conventional analysis techniques.