European Survey on the Release of Formaldehyde from Textiles

Always more frequently consumers are exposed to hundreds of potentially hazardous chemicals in their everyday life. These compounds can come into contact with their body through three different pathways: inhalation, ingestion and dermal absorption. The scope of the present work was to make a survey on the level of free and releasable formaldehyde that can be found in textile products sold on the European market and produced all over the world, to develop a method to better mimic the foreseeable conditions of use and to assess whether the detected amounts of released formaldehyde are hazardous to human health through dermal exposure.JRC.I.5-Physical and chemical exposure

Investigation of the Correlation of the Acrylamide Content and the Antioxidant Acitivity of Model Cookies

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the acrylamide (AA) content and the antioxidant activity (AOA) of self-prepared cookies. Cookies were baked in the laboratory under defined conditions following four different recipes. The parameters of investigation were the influence of the type and relative content of sugar (glucose and fructose) and the baking time on the AA content as well as AOA of the final products. Parameters depending on the recipe and baking conditions such as the moisture content, the total nitrogen concentration, and the colour of the products were evaluated for all samples as well. To prove the transferability of the finding gained with model cookies to samples from industry, the same measurements were performed on seven different types/brands of cookies that were purchased in local markets. A direct correlation was found between the concentration of AA and the AOA. With increasing baking time, the moisture content of the cookies decreased. The latter parameter correlated well with the AA concentration and AOA. The use of fructose enhances the concentration of AA and the AOA of the final products, when compared with the use of sucrose. However, a simple model for the prediction of acrylamide contents and the AOA of samples from the baking time, colour, protein, or moisture content of the samples was not found.JRC.D.8-Food safety and qualit