Levels of Phthalates in Selected Ghanaian Alcoholic Beverages
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Date
April, 2017
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Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine the presence and levels of three regulated phthalates; benzyl
butyl phthalate (BBP), Di-(2-ethylhexyle) phthalate (DEHP) and Di-butyl phthalate (DBP) in locally
manufactured alcoholic beverages popularly called “bitters” and packaged with polyethylene
terephthalate (PET). The analysis looked at 36 samples consisting of 33 different brands of which twenty
one (21) were packaged in PET bottles and fifteen (15) packaged in PET pouches/bags. Target analyte
was extracted from samples into n-hexane following an optimized protocol and analyzed using gas
chromatography Flame Ionization Detection (GC-FID).
The method showed good linearity in the concentration range of 1 μg/mL to 32 μg/mL with coefficient
of determination (R2) of 0.9919, 1.00 and 0.9996 for BBP, DEHP and DBP respectively. LOD and LOQ
for the method detection and quantification ranged from 0.4 μg/mL to 1 μg/mL and 3 μg/mL to 4 μg/mL
respectively. Recoveries for method validation purposes yielded a range of 72.24 % to 105.97% of DBP
spiked at concentration of 0.1 μg/mL and 0.2 μg/mL.
At least two out of the three phthalates were detected in all samples. DPB was not detected in 5 of the
samples representing 13.89 % of the samples tested. The overall mean concentration of DEHP exceeded
the regulatory level by 212.67 % whilst that of DBP was as high as 1770 % above the legal limit. The
highest leachable samples recorded values of 5.81 μg/mL and 6.02 μg/mL which are 287.3 % and
1906.67 % above the EU Commission regulation 10/2011 for DEHP (i.e. SML = 1.5 μg/mL) and DBP
(i.e. SML = 0.3 μg/mL) respectively. The overall mean levels of BBP however complied with the
regulation. Consequently, these findings indicate that the level of leaching of phthalates especially
DEHP and DBP into some Ghanaian alcoholic beverages popularly called “bitters” can be quite high.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Food Science and Technology in Partial
fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Master of Science in Food Quality Management