Determination of Bisphenol A in Commercial Plastic Products by Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography with UV/Vis Detector

Abstract

Phenolic compounds are the most common organic compounds pollutants, harmful to human health and  exhibit adverse effects on the environment. Bisphenol A (BPA) is the one of phenolic compounds extensively used as additive material in common products, such as water bottles, food container, baby feeding bottles, food and beverage cans. Exposure to BPA released from such materials increases the hazard effect due to the endocrine disruptor, which can cause various health diseases, including cancer, disorders of the nervous system, and heart disease. In the present study, BPA concentration has been determined in four different samples of plastic products (PC drinking cup, PVC mineral water bottle, baby feeding bottle, and food container). For each commercial plastic product, four samples were bought from local markets. 1g of each plastic product piece was exposed to ethanol in a conical flask sealed with parafilm at a constant temperature of 70 °C for 10 h. HPLC technique was successfully applied for the determination of bisphenol A in different types of plastic products, with acceptable recovery results ranging from 95.33% to 97.25%. The calibration curve was constructed with the mean of the peak area against the known concentration in the range of 1-13µM of BPA. A linear relationship equation was observed, and a correlation coefficient were y=1.2992x+1.7246, R2=0.992, respectively. Bisphenol A concentrations were 4.92±0.110 µM in a PVC mineral water bottle, 2.49±0.105 µM in a PC plastic drinking cup, 2.66±0.121 µM in a food container, and 1.26±0.049 µM in a baby feeding bottle. These findings suggest that the HPLC technique used in the present work has promising potential for the detection of bisphenol A in plastic samples for industrial quality control and environmental monitoring of pollution.