U.S. state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) calls for comments on uses, alternatives, and life cycle impacts of PFAS in food packaging; comment period open until January 14, 2020, public workshop to be held on the same date
“New” endocrine disruptors identified
Danish researchers produce list of 9 “new” endocrine disrupting chemicals identified according to EU EDC criteria; some substances relevant for food contact
Study detects DNA-reactive, mutagenic substances in recycled PE, PP, and PS
119 plastic samples including polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) tested for mutagenicity; no DNA-reactive, mutagenic substances in PET but in 51 of the other samples, making them unsafe, especially for food contact applications; recycling process identified as source; dataset of over 600 organic chemicals in recycled high-density PE pellets published
US FDA adds nine substances to food contact inventory
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adds nine new entries to its Inventory of Effective Food Contact Substance Notifications (FCN) since August 2021
Long-term migration from PET
Scientists show that for PET bottles accelerated migration tests overestimate real long-term migration; suggest use of migrant- and polymer-specific diffusion parameters instead of default values
Study investigates microplastics release from baby bottles
Article published in Nature Food describes release of microplastics from polypropylene baby bottles following cleaning and sterilization steps; releases of up to 16.2 million particles per liter, average infant exposure from feeding in the range of 14,600 to 4.5 million microplastic particles per infant per day
Study on reducing odors in recycled LDPE
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV publish study investigating sources of odors present in recycled low density polyethylene (LDPE); demonstrate reduction of odors through separated collection from household waste, washing at 60 degrees Celsius
Contaminants migrate from recycled paper and paperboard
New method for the detection of contaminants in in recycled paper and paperboard. Significant levels of BPA, DEHP and nonylphenols found in commercial retail samples of recycled paperboard food contact materials.
EPA speeds up review of new chemicals
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency eliminates backlog of over 600 new chemicals awaiting market approval, announces improved chemical review process and increased transparency
India’s draft food packaging rules
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India notifies WTO of draft food packaging regulations containing 17 standards for food contact materials; comments accepted for 60 days