Determination of Formaldehyde in Imitation Porcelain Tableware by Spectrophotometry with Acetylacetone

Objectives To detection the content of formaldehyde in imitation porcelain tableware by acetyl acetone spectrophotometric method to provide full and reliable data for the revision of food safety standard system, and provide technical support for food safety supervision and management.

Methods In the excessive presence of ammonium acetate, formaldehyde reacted with acetyl acetone and created a yellow compound generated by formaldehyde and acetylacetone with ammonia, which was detected by spectrophotometry at 414 nm wave length.

Results The linear range was (0.20~6.0) mg/L. The regression equation was y=0.009 77x+0.026 0, and the correlation coefficient was 0.999 9. The detection limit was 0.015 mg/dm² and the limit of quantitation was 0.045 mg/dm². The RSD of low, medium and high concentrations were 4.42%, 4.27% and 1.24%, respectively. The recovery of imitation porcelain tableware samples was 90% for spoon, 98.7% for dish and 97.6% for bowl.

Conclusions This method could satisfy the requirement of testing formaldehyde migration in imitation porcelain tableware. The operation is simple and easy to promote and suitable for grass-roots, especially in the city-and county-level Center for Disease Control and Prevention to carry out related works.