6.01.P–TuWe85 - Design A 3D-Printed Flow Device For Selective Droplet-Based Liquid-Liquid Extraction Of Saturated And Aromatics: Potential Application For The Quality Control Of Mineral Oil Contamination In Food

Abstract

Mineral oil comprises a complex mixture of mineral oil-saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH), used by the food industry in food-contact materials and packaging. During these processes, MOSH and MOAH have been shown to migrate into foodstuffs. This is of concern since MOSH is known to accumulate in the liver, spleen, and other organs, while MOAH is suspected to be carcinogenic. There is thus a need for the development of effective analytical techniques for the detection and quantification of MOSH and MOAH, to safeguard human health. Currently, solid-phase extraction (SPE), liquid chromatography (LC), and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) are used to separate MOSH and MOAH fractions, while gas chromatography (GC-FID) is used for quantification. Using these approaches is either costly, requires a large solvent volume, or is time-consuming. This study proposes an alternative method of designing and fabricating a 3D-printed flow device that uses microfluidic principles to perform droplet-based liquid-liquid extraction (DLLE) for the fractionation of MOSH and MOAH compounds. The printed flow device is a standard T-junction with 2 inlets and 1 outlet, designed with Fusion360, printed with polypropylene using a Prusa 3Mk+ 3D printer. A deep eutectic solvent silver-based trifluorometthanesulfonate was used as the acceptor phase, and an in-line phase separator was incorporated into the flow system to improve automation. Parameters such as flow rate, extraction time, and mineral oil hydrocarbon (MOH) concentration were optimized using a central composite design. This flow system has potential applications in quality control processes in the food industry, due to its cost-effectiveness, ease of use, and scalability potential. This approach is envisioned to address the regulatory challenges associated with mineral oil contamination in food products and packaging in South Africa for improved safety and quality assurance in food industries. Future work will focus on validating the device's performance in real mineral oil samples and exploring its integration into existing quality control frameworks.
 

Author(s)

Presenter: Busie, Mokoena

Authors: 

Elize Smit Supervisor at university of Johannesburg South Africa