Analysis of potential migration compounds from silicone molds for food contact by SPME-GC-MS

Abstract

Four commercially available silicone cupcake molds have been studied. An evaluation of the post-cure treatment applied to the silicone molds was carried out and the loss of volatile organic compounds after cure treatment was quantified. The two higher quality molds showed losses at the 0.5% (w/w) (recommended by BfR standard), while the two lower quality molds exceeded this limit. The migration studies were carried out using Tenax® as a solid food simulant. The volatile compounds that migrate were identified and quantified using SPME-GC-MS. Up to fourteen silicone oligomers were quantified. When the molds were subjected to post-cure treatment, none of them exceeded the global migration of 10 mg/dm²; while those lower quality molds showed migrations higher than 10 mg/dm², so their use in contact with food is not recommended.

Keywords: Cyclosiloxanes; Migration test; SPME-GC-MS; Silicone oligomers.