Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is widely used for the manufacture of packaging for drinking water. The chemical safety of plastic materials intended to come into contact with food is strictly regulated by the European regulation No. 10/201, which establishes a positive list of authorized compounds for the production of plastic packaging. Despite this, cyto-/genotoxic and estrogenic activity of PET-bottled water has been reported. Chemical mixtures migrating from PET into bottled water may explain the reported positive results. The aim of this study was to assess the migration of monomers, catalysts, additives, and degradation byproducts from PET into bottled water. In accordance with the chemical formulations reported for PET, no phtalates, antioxidants, and UV stabilizers were detected into bottled water. However, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol and antimony were found in PET bottled water. It was shown that temperature influences the migration of these compounds, due to orientation loss of the amorphous phase of the semi-crystalline part of PET bottles. This phenomenon increases the mobility of polymer chains and consequently, the compounds' diffusion. Thus, it was found that sunlight exposure influences only the migration of formaldehyde. Indeed, no oxidation of the polymer chains was detected on the surface of PET bottles after exposure. The in vitro toxicological bioassays with human cell models (HepG2 and MDA-MB453-KB2 cells) did not show any cytotoxicity, genotoxicity or estrogenic- and (anti)-androgenic-like activity for PET bottled water.
