American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM International) Method D6042-96—Test Method for Determination of Phenolic Antioxidants and Erucamide Slip Additives in Polypropylene Homopolymer Formulations Using Liquid Chromatography—is a "consensus" or "referee" method used among plastic manufacturers and the pharmaceutical companies that purchase plastic containers. Plastic container manufacturers use this test to ensure the quality of their product for their pharmaceutical customers. Pharmaceutical companies also specify this test and provide their own lists of target compounds and concentration limits in purchase agreements.
This test calls for isopropanol extraction, LC separation, and UV detection. Restek offers a variety of reversed-phase LC columns suitable for these separations. Restek also designed a reference standard to validate this method. This mixture contains the common antioxidants and slips listed in ASTM D6042-96, along with BHT.
BHT (128-37-0)
Erucamide slip (112-84-5)
Vitamin E (10191-41-0)
Irgafos 168 (31570-04-4)
Irganox 3114 (27676-62-6)
Irganox 1010 (6683-19-8)
Irganox 1076 (2082-79-3)
