Maria Anna Coniglio - Non-Intentionally Added Substances in PET-Bottled Mineral Water

The series Springer Briefs in Molecular Science: Chemistry of Foods presents compact topical volumes in the area of food chemistry. The series has a clear focus on the chemistry and chemical aspects of foods, topics such as the physics or biology of foods are not part of its scope. The Briefs volumes in the series aim at presenting chemical background information or an introduction and clear-cut overview on the chemistry related to specific topics in this area. Typical topics thus include:

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This book deals with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottled water, whose global market size is expected to reach around USD 350 billion by 2021, following 10% year-on-year growth. Our goal is to define and formulate a comprehensive analysis of risk associated with drinking PET-bottled water.

In recent years, concerns are rising about the safety of PET foods packaging due to the possible migration of chemical compounds from PET to the water contained into the bottle, which may pose health risk to consumers. These chemicals are called NIAS, acronym of non-intentionally added substances, and they are supposed to have potential estrogenic and/or anti-androgenic activities and to be cancerogenic or toxic to humans. Our approach is to report data from the international scientific literature examining what happens when the polymer undergoes specific conditions, such as exposure to ultraviolet light/high temperature, ageing or humidity.

The introductory chapter highlights the relationship between water and health. Taking into consideration the recommended daily water intake, the importance of good hydration is argued. The second chapter deals with the global bottled market. The demand for bottled water is witnessing significant growth due to organoleptic and health-related reasons. Concerns about tap water risks may contribute to bottled water consumption. In particular, demographic and socio-economic variables as well as information provided by the mass media are argued as factors related to the consumers attitudes towards bottled drinking waters. Furthermore, European Union (EU) and United States of America (U.S.) legislation on bottled waters is examined. The third chapter deals with the fundamentals of PET chemistry and the elementary PET-bottled manufacturing steps. It is a guide to the reader for the comprehension of what NIAS are and how they can migrate from the wall of PET bottle to the water inside it. For this reason, special emphasis is given to the additives used during the synthesis of the polymer. In addition, specific EU and U.S. regulations on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs are examined. Finally, the last chapter describes NIAS as a result of the interactions between different ingredients in the packaging materials, as well as the degradation processes and the impurities present in the raw materials used for their production. Phthalates, aldehydes and volatile organic compounds (VOC) are examined. Although some of them may be cancerogenic or toxic to humans, it is likely that in the majority of cases, due to their very low levels, these substances will not be of any health concern.