Migration of plasticisers from Tritan™ and polycarbonate bottles and toxicological evaluation

This study is aimed to compare Tritan™ and polycarbonate (PC) from a point of view of migration of monomers and additives and toxicological evaluation. Migration assays were performed according with Commission Regulation (UE) No. 10/2011. Samples were incubated at 40 °C for three consecutive periods of 10 days. Identification and quantification of the compounds intended to migrate was done using solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in scan mode. Compounds identified in Tritan™ were 2-phenoxyethanol (2-PE), 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), bisphenol A (BPA), benzylbuthyl phthalate (BBP) and dimethyl isophthalate (DMIP) at levels from 0.027 ± 0.002 to 0.961 ± 0.092 μg/kg, although in the 3rd migration period, BBP and DMIP were the only compounds detected well below the specific migration limit. On the other hand, BPA was the only compound detected in PC polymers at a mean concentration of 0.748 μg/kg. In vitro bioassays for (anti)estrogenic, (anti)androgenic as well as retinoic acid- and vitamin D-like activity were negative for Tritan™ and PC migrates. BPA and DMIP were estrogenic in high concentrations. Exposure of the estrogen-sensitive molluskan sentinel Potamopyrgus antipodarum confirmed the estrogenic activity of BPA in vivo at 30 μg/L.