This document discusses a new bottle cap called the Biotappo that is designed to indicate exposure to sunlight or high temperatures. The cap is painted with a special paint that changes color from pink to lilac when exposed to sunlight or temperatures above 40°C. Testing showed the cap successfully changed color when exposed to different heat conditions. The cap could help consumers identify bottles that have been exposed to temperatures known to increase chemical leaching from PET plastic into bottled water. Further study is suggested to measure actual chemical leaching correlated to the color change of the Biotappo.

1. International Journal of Business and Management Invention
ISSN (Online): 2319 – 8028, ISSN (Print): 2319 – 801X
www.ijbmi.org || Volume 6 Issue 1 || January. 2017 || PP—70-72
www.ijbmi.org 70 | Page
The Biotappo: A New Tool For Food Safety And Consumer’s
Protection.
Prof.ssa Maria Anna Coniglio
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent decades, bottled water consumption has become increasingly popular worldwide. The
statistics show that by 2017, people all over the world are expected to consume about 391 billion liters of bottled
water (http://www.statista.com/statistics/183388/per-capita-consumption-of-bottled-water-worldwide-in-2009/).
Bottled water qualityissubjected to intensive investigation in manycountriesworldwide in order to
evaluateitssuitability for human consumption. In the US, bottled drinking water is regulated by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA), which has set Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs) specifically for
bottled water. Moreover, the US have additional regulatory oversight of bottled water. In Europe, the EU
Regulation No. 1935/2004 (EU, 2004) and the EU Regulation No. 10/2011 (EU/2011) set out general principles
of safety and inertness for all Food Contact Materials (FCMs) and rules on the composition of plastic FCMs,
respectively. Nonetheless, data on the increase of bottled water consumption raise concerns over water quality
and the packaging material.
Among the plastics commonly used for bottled water and other liquid non-alcoholic refreshment
beverages, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the most favorable packaging material due to its chemical and
physical stability, its transparency, light weight and good recyclability. PET is also a polymer with very few
additives used for its manufacture (EFSA 2012). Nonetheless,NIAS (non-intentionally added substances) which
may be cancerogenic or toxic chemicals substances (Huff et al., 1997) orwhich may have potential estrogenic
and/or anti-androgenic activities (Yang et al. 2011) can be found in the final plastic material, due to complex
formulations of polymers, processes and storage (EU, 2011).
The effect of storage temperature and sunlight on PET has been studied extensively in many countries,
showing that high temperature and sunlightinfluence the rate and magnitude of leaching of organic and
inorganiccompounds from PET bottles (Schmidaet al, 2008). It has been shown that PET contains detectable
amounts of acetaldehyde,which has multiple mutagenic effects (Homannet al., 1997; Helanderet al.,
1991;Dellarco, 1988) and whichis able to migrate from bottle walls to the water itself. For carbonated
waters,high storage temperature along with high pressure of the carbonated waters or low pH of waters seem
responsible for higher concentration of acetaldehyde (Darowska et al., 2003). Linssen et al. (1995) showed that
under high temperature the contents of acetaldehyde found in carbonated mineral water and lemonades ranged
between 11 ng/ml and 7447 ng/ml, while the contents of acetaldehyde in the PET packages ranged from 1.1
µg/g to 3.8 µg/g. Finally, Al Rayes et al. (2012) showed that PET exposure to sunlight during 5 months
increased the migration of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde. Similar migration increase was observed when the
samples were incubated at 40°C during 10 days.
High temperature storage can also be responsible forthe migration of antimony (Sb) from PET into
beverages (Andra et al., 2012, Güler and Alpaslan, 2009, Keresztes et al., 2009, Shotyk and Krachler, 2007,
Shotyk et al., 2006, Tukur et al., 2012 and Westerhoff et al., 2008;Ying-Ying et al., 2014). Antimony is a
cumulative toxic element with unknown biological functions. TheInternational Agency for Research on Cancer
(IARC) has reported evidence of the carcinogenicity of antimony in experimental animals (DeMatteo et al.,
2012). Antimony is considered to be a pollutant of priority interest by the United States Environmental
Protection Agency (USEPA) and the European Union, and the maximum admissible levels in drinking water are
6 and 5 μg/L, respectively (Filella et al., 2002; Sax, 2010). The presence of antimonymay be the result of
leaching from packaging or from the bottling process (Sax, 2010;Bach et al., 2012).According to the EU
Directive 2005/79/EC18, a specific migration limit (SML) of 40 mg Sb/kg has been set for packaged food
(2002/72/EC, 2005). Nonetheless, it has been shown that the residual antimony content in PET may vary
between 100 and 300 mg/kg (Cheng et al., 2010, Rungchang et al., 2013) and that the extent of antimony
leaching from the PET recipients can vary greatly due to storage condition and time, temperature, illumination,
bottle volume (Westerhoff et al., 2008; Keresztes et al., 2009; Cheng et al., 2010, Keresztes et al., 2009,
Reimann et al., 2012), with temperature being the most important factor contributing to the release of antimony
(Keresztes et al., 2009; Westerhoff et al., 2008; Welle F et al., 2011; Reimann et al., 2012).
Benzene is an aromatichydrocarbonwidelyusedas an intermediate in the chemicalindustry for
manufacturing of polymers(Salviano dos Santos et al., 2012). Thus, it can enterfoods in many ways, including
by means of packaging materials. Benzeneisclassified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer

2. The Biotappo: A New Tool For Food Safety And Consumer’s Protection.
www.ijbmi.org 71 | Page
(IARC) as a human carcinogen (Goldstein, 2010) and consumption of contaminatedfoods and water play an
importantrole in the human exposure.Itiswellknownthat benzene can formwhenbenzoateisdecarboxylated in the
presence of ascorbic acid and some transitionmetals (e.g. Cu and Fe) (Gardner et al., 1993). Benzoate and
ascorbic acid are widelyusedaspreservatives and antioxidants, respectively, in
nonalcoholicbeveragesbuttheymayalsooccurnaturally in foods (Aprea et al., 2008). It has been demonstrated that
the exposure to heat and UV light of beverages (e.g. cranberry juice) thatcontainbenzoatesalts and ascorbic acid
acceleratesthe production of benzene. Nyman et al. (2010)demonstratedthatPET bottlesstabilized with a UV
light filterreduced benzene formation in beveragescontainingorangejuiceonlymarginally and that benzene
formationwashigh in samplesheatedto 40°C, indicatingthat the exposure of PET to the sunlight and high
temperaturesincreases the level of benzene in beveragesnaturallycontaining benzene precursors.
High temperaturesalong with CO2 mayalsoincrease the presence in PET-bottledwaters of
formaldehyde and 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol, a degradation compound of phenolicantioxidants, aswellas an
intermediarymonomer, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)terephthalate (Bach et al., 2013). Although none of thesecompounds
areon the positive list of EU Regulation No. 10/2011, theirpresenceindicatesleaching of non desidered,
unexpectedcompounds from PET bottles.
Finally, high temperatures may play a role also in leaching ofphthalates from PET bottles into the water
and other beverages. This evidence my pose severe risks for public health because a growing literature links
many of the phthalates with a variety of adverse outcomes for humans, including increased adiposity and insulin
resistance (Grun et al., 2009), as well as decreased levels of sex hormones (Pan et al., 2006).
Taking into consideration literature data, monitoring of the temperatures to which bottled waters are
exposed during transportation and/or storage may be crucial in predicting the migration of NIAS from PET to
water or other beverages.
Thispaperpresents the results of a studyaimedatevaluating the effectiveness of a new, special
bottlecapsealing the top opening of bottles for the control of exposure to differenttemperatures.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
In 2016, a special bottle cap was produced (licensed by Dott. Cristian Fioriglio). The cap is covered
with a special paint which, when left outdoors in the sun or exposed to high temperatures, turns color from pink
to lilac.
In parallel, the caps were exposed to the sunlight and to high temperatureThe cap was exposed to (i)
wet heat, and (ii) dry heat at five different temperatures: 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80°C and for different exposure
time: from 5 minutes to 1 day. Water sampleswereanalysed (i) before the experiments (after 10 daysat 20 _C),
and (ii) after 10 days of storageatthreedifferent temperatures: 40, 50 and 60 _C. In parallel, bottled water
sampleswereextracted for the bioassays following the protocoldescribedabove but withoutinternal standards.
Mineral
water samplesweretaken from threebottles per brand and testeddirectly with the yeastestrogen screen
(YES) in three independentexperiments
III. RESULTS
Fare prove a temperature variabili per stabilirequal è la minima alla quale iltappocomincia a virare.
Considerareil tempo.
Esporreiltappoancheallaluce del sole.
Andrebbero bene, credo, unadecina di prototipi.
IV. CONCLUSION
Literature data assess the migration or potentialmigration of substances with in PETinto the
liquidcontentsmainlywhen they are exposed to high temperatures. The levels of migration to food of the
substances in plastics are often well within the margin of safety based on toxicological testing. Nonetheless,
health effects are likely to occur taking into consideration life-long, daily dietary exposure to these substances.
In some countries, temperatureoftenexceed 45°C at the summer time and the storing of bottled water
out the of markets under sunlightis a very common practice. On the otherhand, generallytrucksthattransport
water bottles are notrefrigerated. Thus, transportation and storage of PET bottled water raiseconcerns over water
quality and the packaging material.
Plastic food containers used for bottled water do not include additives, the so-called UV stabilizers, to
prevent the effects of ultraviolet (UV) light or high temperatures. Anyway, thereisevidencethatPET
bottlesstabilized with a UV light filterreduced benzene formation in beveragesonlymarginally(Nyman et al.,
2010).

3. The Biotappo: A New Tool For Food Safety And Consumer’s Protection.
www.ijbmi.org 72 | Page
In bottledwaters, the capistypically made of plastic and colorless or light pink or blue. In thispaperwe report data
about the effectiveness of a special capcovered by a paintable to change color whenexposed to sunlight and to
different high temperatures. Comparisons of the results to differenttemperatures are presented.
Etc…………………..
1. Se possibile, vedere di misurareilpossibile di sostanze dal PET dal liquido (acqua) in funzione del
viraggio del biotappo … anche se questapotrebbeessereunaricercasuccessiva