BASIC OF FOOD SCIENCE

AHD 1132
TOXIC CONTAMINANTS FROM PACKAGING
MATERIALS:

VINYL CHLORIDE AND STYRENE

ASST. PROF. DR. NORAZLANSHAH BIN HAZALI

NOR AMIRAH BT AHMAD TARMIZI
1310470
amirahtarmizi93@gmail.com
013-4366905

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction...........................................................
.........1
Food Contaminants
Vinyl Chloride and Styrene
Effects of Vinyl Chloride and Styrene on
Health.............3
Conclusion.............................................................
.........4
References.............................................................
........5

FOOD CONTAMINANTS FROM PACKAGING

MATERIALS :

VINYL CHLORIDE

&

STYRENE

WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT?

Food contaminants are substances unintentionally included in foods. Some are harmless and
others are hazardous because of the toxicological risks from their intake to consumer.
However, harmless contaminants still have its own bad effects when it interferes with food

processing and are in contact

with food during storage.

Variety of chemicals enters

water or foods because they

are intentionally added or the

food becomes contaminated

with various substances.

Contamination can occur starting from raw material to consumer. Food can be contaminated
with processing aids, such as filtering and cleaning agents, and with metals coming from the
equipment during food processing. Contaminants can also be included in foods during
packaging and storage. This comes from plastics, coatings and tins. Contact of packaging
material with food may result in the transfer of trace quantities of particular chemicals, such
as monomers and plasticizers. Well-known chemicals used in the production of polymers are
vinyl chloride and styrene.

Vinyl chloride is the monomer of polyvinyl chloride. It is a colourless gas with

sweet odour that is carcinogenic and is used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic.
PVC is a material used to manufacture a number of plastics and vinyl products like
pipes, wire and packaging materials.

Figure 1: Structural formula of vinyl chloride

On the other hand, Styrene is a colourless liquid with a sweet smell. It is
primarily used in the manufacturing of polystyrene plastics and resins.

Figure 2: Structural formula of Styrene

EFFECTS OF VINYL CHLORIDE AND STYRENE ON

HEALTH

Acute exposure to high

levels of vinyl

had been identified to

cause

depression

nervous system

such
and

of

as

central

dizziness,

headaches

drowsiness

in

humans.

to

vinyl chloride

had been identified to

cause liver damage

and liver cancer. It is

also

reported

cause irritation of lung

and

kidney

prevention

clotting in humans.

Chronic

exposure

of

blood

some

to
and

In addition, it is known

that

vinyl

chloride can dissolve in

water. Vinyl chloride

can migrate to groundwater and can stay in the groundwater pipes made of PVC. Vinyl
chloride could also get into food stored in packaging materials containing PVC.
John (1997) had proved the high concentrations of vinyl chloride contained in the
drinking water that is made from packaging materials of PVC:
Mineral water (stored in polyvinyl chloride bottles), has been shown to take up
vinyl chloride. After 6 months, a concentration of 170 mg/l of vinyl chloride was
measured. This may lead to a daily intake of 120ng per person in countries where
polyvinyl chloride bottled drinking water is used. (p.61)

Vinyl chloride can get into your body when you inhale it or drink water that contains it.
When portion of it reaches your liver, the liver will change it into new substances.
These new substances will travel into the blood, enter the kidney, and leave the body
through urine. However, the problem arrives when the liver makes new substances that
cannot leave your body rapidly. Some of these substances react with the liver, and
depending on how much vinyl chloride you consumed, it may produce damage there.
Whereas for styrene, according to John (2013), its toxic effects include renal
and hepatic damage, pulmonary edema, and cardiac arrhythmia. Styrene, which has
been widely used in packaging material, has a high tendency to leach out of polystyrene
packaging material and gets into fat components of foods such as fruits, nuts, beverages,
and meats. Consequently, this will result in us getting the diseases mentioned above
when we consume the food.
Styrene in food can enter our body through the digestive tract, and same like the
vinyl chloride, it is broken down into other chemicals and these chemicals will leave the
body through urine.

CONCLUSION

Because of these chemicals had been popularly used in packaging materials,

there is an increased concern of the effects of these chemical to our health. Because of
that, proactive measures had been taken. For instance, Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) had limited the amount of vinyl chloride present in the packaging materials. EPA
limits the amount of vinyl chloride in material packaging to not exceed 0.002 milligrams
per liter (mg/l) of water to protect humans health. The same thing is for foods. FDA had
provide the appropriate content of vinyl chloride in various plastics been used. As in for
Styrene, it has been advised to not exceed 0.1 ppm for drinking water.

REFERENCES

John (1997). Food Safety And Toxicity. p. 53-62

Irfan Ali Khan, Atiya Khanum (2003). Role of Biotechnolgy in Medicinal and Aromatic
Plants. p.175-179
Vinyl Chloride : Public Statement. Retrieved December 26th, 2013 from
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp20-c1.pdf
Toxicological Profile For Styrene. Retrieved December 26th, 2013 from
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp53.pdf
Pictures are taken from Google Images.