An innovative and accessible chemical approach to bisphenol identification on plastic surfaces

Resumo

The current lifestyle has gradually architected itself upon synthetic materials made from a wide range of oil-based polymers, and this has contributed somehow to global development. Under the economic perspective to enhance plastics features and applications, scientists took extensive tests with well-known and new molecules to perform as chemical addictions, thereby having tremendous success with bisphenol A (BPA). Over the years, however, worldwide health surveillance agencies discussed the hazardous effects of BPA on humans based on scientific reports available at that time. Accordingly, the present paper proved the viability of the ferric chloride spot test as a detector for phenolic compounds released at high temperatures from plastic items, which serves well as an indirect method for BPA identification. Therefore, this research is a novel way to recognize harmful phenolic compounds in commercialized plastic items using a simple and cost-effective chemical approach.