Chromatographic Separation
Hyphenated liquid and gas chromatography techniques isolate and quantify saturated and aromatic mineral oil hydrocarbons extracted from paperboard packaging and food simulants. Safety testing laboratories perform mineral oil mosh moah analysis to detect mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons originating from newspaper inks, offset press lubricants, synthetic adhesives, and recycled pulp streams. Quantitative testing identifies potentially carcinogenic aromatic hydrocarbon fractions capable of migrating through paperboard packaging into dry foods.
Hydrocarbon Detection
Analytical testing begins with solvent extraction using hexane and ethanol mixtures to extract mineral oil fractions from paperboard fibres. Normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography separates the raw extract into distinct saturated and aromatic hydrocarbon fractions before transferring them online to gas chromatography columns. Flame ionization detectors measure the resulting unresolved complex mixture humps to quantify mineral oil concentration levels in milligrams per kilogram of packaging.
Recycled paper mills evaluate pulping batches to determine whether barrier coatings or internal adsorbents are required to block mineral oil migration into packaged food. Packaging converters select high-purity virgin pulps or specialized functional barriers whenever test results exceed recommended migration thresholds. Technical certificates report separate values for saturated and aromatic mineral oil fractions to satisfy stringent retail safety requirements.
Verification Limit
Chemical chromatographic methods apply specifically to identifying non-polar hydrocarbon contaminants in paper substrates and food matrix extracts. Conducting systematic mineral oil mosh moah analysis prevents toxic chemical migration from recycled paperboard food packaging into consumer food products.
