EN 1186 Materials and Articles Intended for Foodstuffs - Plastics

The European standard “EN 1186 Materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs - Plastics” consists of the following subsections published under the same title:

• The standard “EN 1186-1 Part 1: Guide to the selection of conditions and test methods for general migration” provides a guide to the selection of appropriate conditions and test methods for the determination of general migration from plastics intended to come into contact with foodstuffs into food simulants and test media.
• The standard “EN 1186-2 Part 2: Test methods for general migration in vegetable oils” describes methods for determining the general migration of plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs by contacting test samples with vegetable oils at temperatures of 4 degrees or above and 175 degrees or below.

Some vegetable oils are not suitable for use at temperatures below 20 degrees. The general migration from plastic samples is expressed as the mass loss of non-volatile substances as follows:

• Per unit surface area
• Per kg of food simulant
• Per substance after contact with a food simulant under certain conditions.

Depending on the type of materials or the shape of the substances, contact with the food simulant is carried out on a single surface (bag, cell, filling) or by immersion. This standard does not cover the interpretation of the results that are expected to take into account regulatory requirements.

• The standard “EN 1186-3 Part 3: Test methods for general migration of volatile simulants” describes methods for measuring the general migration of plastic materials and substances intended to come into contact with foodstuffs by bringing test samples into contact with volatile food simulants at temperatures of 4 degrees or more and not exceeding the reflux temperature. The general migration from the plastic sample is determined as the mass loss of non-volatile substances:
  • Per unit surface area
  • Per kg of food simulant
  • Per substance after contact with a food simulant under certain conditions.

Depending on the type of materials or the shape of the substances, contact with the food simulant is carried out on a single surface (bag, cell, filling) or by immersion. This standard does not cover the interpretation of the results that are expected to take into account regulatory requirements.

• The standard “EN 1186-4 Part 4: Test methods for general migration of cell-based olive oil into oily food simulants” describes test methods for determining the general migration of oily food simulants from one surface of plastics in sheet and film form at selected times above 20°C and up to (but not including) 100°C. These methods are most suitable for plastics in film and sheet form, but are particularly applicable to materials consisting of multiple layers or surfaces that differ in their migration properties and that are intended to be tested with food simulants in contact with the surface intended to come into contact with foodstuffs. This test method is designed for use with the oily food simulant olive oil.
• The standard “EN 1186-5 Part 5: Test methods for general migration into aqueous food simulants via cells” describes test methods for determining general migration from only one surface of plastics intended to come into contact with foodstuffs into aqueous food simulants by exposing the food contact surface to the selected food simulant using a cell at temperatures up to and including 70 degrees for selected test times. These methods are most suitable for plastics in the form of films and sheets, but are particularly applicable to materials consisting of multiple layers or surfaces differing in migration properties and where the food simulant is to be tested in contact with the surface intended to come into contact with foodstuffs only.
• The standard “EN 1186-6 Part 6: Test methods for the general migration of olive oil using a pouch” describes test methods for determining the general migration of oily food simulants from only one surface of plastics in the form of films or sheets intended to come into contact with foodstuffs. These methods are carried out by forming the plastic film or sheet into standard bags and filling and exposing them to temperatures above 20 degrees and up to 100 degrees (this temperature is not included) for selected periods of time.

A standard bag is a bag with the dimensions defined in this standard. This method is most suitable for heat- or pressure-sealable plastics in film and sheet form, but is particularly applicable to materials consisting of multiple layers where the food simulant is in contact only with the surface intended to come into contact with the foodstuff. This test method is designed for use with oily food simulant olive oil.

• The standard “EN 1186-7 Part 7: Test methods for general migration into aqueous food simulants using a pouch” describes a test method for determining the general migration from only one surface of plastics in sheet and film form intended to come into contact with foodstuffs. This method is carried out by forming plastic film or sheet into standard bags and exposing them to the aqueous food simulant for 40 days, 10 hours or 24 hours at 2 degrees or 70 hours at 2 degrees. A standard bag is a bag with the dimensions described in this standard. This method is most suitable for plastics in film and sheet form that can be sealed by heat or pressure.
• The standard “EN 1186-8 Part 8: Test methods for general migration into olive oil by filling substances” describes test methods for determining general migration from plastic materials and substances to fatty food simulants by filling test samples with an fatty food simulant at temperatures above 20 degrees and up to 100 degrees (excluding this temperature) for selected times. These methods are most suitable for plastics in the form of containers and fillable substances. Testing samples with this method allows for the testing of inhomogeneous substances, provided they are not too large. This test method is intended for use with the fatty food simulant olive oil. With appropriate modifications, the test method can also be used with other fatty food simulants, called simulant D, which is a synthetic mixture of triglycerides, sunflower oil and corn oil.
• The standard "EN 1186-9 Part 9: Test methods for general migration of aqueous food simulants through substance filling" describes test methods for determining the general migration of plastic articles in the form of containers intended to come into contact with foodstuffs into water-based food simulants by filling them, from one surface only, with a selected food simulant at test temperatures up to 70 °C and for selected test times. These methods are most suitable for plastics in the form of containers and fillable articles.
• The standard “EN 1186-10 Part 10: Test methods for general migration into olive oil (modified method for use in cases of incomplete extraction of olive oil)” describes test methods for determining general migration from plastic materials and substances into oily food simulants by completely immersing test samples in an oily food simulant at any temperature above 5 degrees and for selected times up to 175 degrees.

When some plastics are tested by the methods in EN 1186-2, EN 1186-4, EN 1186-6, EN 1186-8, EN 1186-12 and EN 1186-13, the soxhlet extraction process does not allow complete recovery of the absorbed olive oil from the test samples. In this method, olive oil is separated from the plastic test samples by dissolving it in chloroform, toluene, xylene or tetrahydrofuran. This method is suitable for plastics subjected to tests carried out by complete immersion in olive oil as described in EN 1186-2, in a cell as described in EN 1186-4, in a pouch as described in EN 1186-6 and by filling as described in EN 1186-8, and at low and high temperatures as described in EN 1186-12 and EN 1186-13.

• The standard "EN 1186-11 Part 11: Test methods for general migration into mixtures of C-labelled synthetic triglycerides" describes test methods for the determination of general migration of fatty food simulants from plastic materials and substances into a mixture of 20C-labelled synthetic triglycerides at temperatures above 121°C and up to 14°C and at selected times. These methods are suitable for plastics in the form of films and sheets, a wide range of substances or containers from which test pieces of appropriate size can be cut, and containers and substances that can be filled. The test methods described are applicable to all plastics.
• The standard “EN 1186-12 Part 12: Test methods for general migration at low temperatures” describes test methods for determining general migration from plastic materials and substances into oily food simulants by completely immersing test specimens in an oily food simulant for selected periods of time at temperatures from 5°C to 20°C. These methods are most suitable for plastics in film and sheet form, but can be applied to a wide range of substances or containers from which test pieces of appropriate size can be cut. The oily food simulant used in these test methods is dewaxed sunflower oil, which, unlike olive oil, remains liquid at the lower test temperature. The test method described is applicable to most types of plastics, although there are some plastics to which it is known not to be applicable.
• The standard “EN 1186-13 Part 13: Test methods for general migration at elevated temperatures” describes test methods for determining general migration from plastic materials and substances into oily food simulants by total immersion of test specimens in an oily food simulant for selected periods of time at temperatures from 100°C to 175°C. A procedure with a substitute test medium is also described. In this substitute procedure, the mass of the components adsorbed onto the modified polyphenylene oxide is taken as a criterion for the assessment of general migration into olive oil. The total immersion test method is designed for use with olive oil, an oily food simulant.

A comparative migration test performed with polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate high-temperature treatment vessels as test samples in contact with 14C-labeled synthetic triglyceride and modified polyphenylene oxide at 100 degrees for 2 hours and 175 degrees for 2 hours, respectively, yielded comparable test results within the analytical tolerance of the methods.

To obtain reproducible and repeatable results using the modified polyphenylene oxide method, it may be necessary to measure the temperature of the test sample before starting the migration period. A suitable method for measuring the temperature of the test sample must be established. The methods described are most suitable for food contact products in the form of sheets and films, but can be applied to a wide variety of products and containers.

• The standard "EN 1186-14 Part 14: Test methods for substitution tests for general migration from plastics intended to come into contact with fatty foodstuffs, using the test medium iso-octane and 95 percent ethanol" describes test methods for substitution tests with the volatile test medium iso-octane and 95 percent aqueous ethanol for the determination of general migration from plastics intended to come into contact with fatty foodstuffs at all temperatures and for any period of time. These test methods are suitable for plastic samples of a wide variety of shapes.
• The standard “EN 1186-15 Part 15: Alternative test methods for migration into fatty food simulants by rapid extraction to iso-octane or 95 percent ethanol” describes two alternative test methods for the assessment of overall migration into fatty food simulants, in the sense of an extraction test with a more severe test character.

Method A is based on the determination of the extraction of migratory substances from plastics intended to come into contact with foodstuffs by total immersion in non-polar, iso-octane or polar, ethanol solvents, depending on the polarity of the packaging material. Based on the results obtained with this method and taking into account the physico-chemical aspects, it has been found that the extraction efficiency obtained is generally equal to or higher than the overall migration results obtained under the test conditions of 40 days at 10 degrees, 70 hours at 2 degrees, 100 hour at 1 degrees, 121 minutes at 30 degrees and 130 minutes at 30 degrees.

Method B can be applied in cases where the total immersion test, Method A, may exceed the total migration values ​​or may not be technically feasible, i.e. in the case of multilayer structures such as plastic laminates and co-extruded films. This test method should primarily be applied to flexible packaging having only a physical barrier layer and a food contact layer thinner than 300 µm.

Our organization, which has been trying to support businesses from every sector with its testing, measurement, analysis and evaluation studies carried out in a wide range for years, has a strong staff that closely follows the developments in the world in the field of science and technology and constantly improves itself. In this context, testing services in accordance with the "EN 1186 Food Contact Materials and Substances - Plastics" standard are also provided to businesses.