Determination of Partition Behavior of Six Photoinitiators between Paperboard Packaging Materials and Air

This paper focuses on the study of a series of photoinitiators (PIs) present in a set of two paper and board samples which have different composition, grammage and thickness. The chemical compounds released by the paper packaging can contaminate food and may affect the safety and health of consumers.To evaluate if the paper and board could be used as food packaging material, partition coefficients (Kpaper/air) between paper and air of six kinds of PIs in white carton board and kraft paper were determined. The results indicated that Values of Kpaper/air from 1 to 4843 were obtained at different temperatures. Kpaper/air decreases with temperature increasing, and the value is proportional to grammage and thickness of the paper samples. The lower of the grammage and the thickness,the lower of Kpaper/air value will be. The Kpaper/air value of 2-ethylhexyl-4-dimethylaminobenzoate (EHDAB) is the lowest, and the Kpaper/air value of 4-methylbenzophenone (MBP) is the highest.It shows that the Kpaper/air value depends on the boiling point of the chemical compounds, the chemical properties and the type of the paper sample.