Investigation of overall and melamine migration from melamine bowls

Abstract

Overall and melamine migration have been determined for 60 samples of melamine resin bowls, which were purchased in various local markets in the area of Bursa, Turkey. The samples were exposed to food simulants 3% acetic acid, 10% ethanol aqueous solutions, and rectified (refined) olive oil at 100 degrees C for 30 min, and 50% ethanol aqueous solutions at 60 degrees C for 30 min. The LOQ value was calculated as 3.3 mg dm(-2) for overall migration and 0.126 mg kg(-1) for melamine migration. Research findings did not exceed the limit of overall migration level (10 mg dm(-2)). Also, melamine levels of all tested items found in the third assays were below the specific migration limit (SML) of 2.5 mg kg(-1) set out in the EU 10/2011 (EU, 2011) and Turkish Food Codex 2013/34 (TFC, 2013a). Some expensive as well as cheap products showed close migration levels. The increased cost of the item did not indicate a higher quality regarding health in this study.