News Article

Science-based proposals for reducing packaging and increasing recycling rates

Researchers investigate packaging use and recycling as well as improvement options; find globalization and time-deprived society to majorly drive food packaging use and recommend economic degrowth to reduce use; report 11% of Spain’s plastic waste efficiently recycled, well below official reports from waste management companies; emphasize need to change material and packaging design to reach circularity targets

News Article

New research on chemical migration from plastic, paper, can coating, and reusables

Recent reports investigate whitening agents’ migration from disposable plastic containers; characterize 153 chemicals migrating from paper packaging and show estimated dietary exposure for children to per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) exceed safety threshold; detect brominated flame retardants in repeat-use food contact articles; review metal can coating literature concerning coatings types, chemical migrants, detection methods, dietary exposure, and regulatory

News Article

Researches develop and evaluate methods for food contact chemical determination

Propose method to analyze chemical markers of mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) from printing inks in food packaging; present workflow that includes in silico prediction tools to identify nonvolatile migrates from food packaging; evaluate efficiency and reliability of methodology for non-target identification of volatile substances

News Article

Plastic recycling: company commitments and chemical safety challenges

Scientists report most large companies commit to reducing plastic pollution but focus on recycling; extrusion of recycled materials and legacy compounds in recycled materials as safety challenge; some substances increase others decrease with the increase in recycled content in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles; tentatively identify 212 volatile chemicals in 57 different recycled PET flakes available in China; present migration model to characterize the exposure and risk of PET oligomers

News Article

Studies investigate circular economy barriers, consumer perceptions

Recent set of articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals review current barriers in flexible plastics to achieving circular economy, recommends regulatory policies be tailored to individual steps in supply chain; consumers easily confused by plastic waste management system, recycling processes, biodegradability claims; researchers instead propose food system shift towards decentralization, shorter supply chains

News Article

Measuring plastic particles released from food packaging and in human lungs

Scientists investigate plastic particles released from store-bought food packaging as well as human and mice health impacts of exposure; report single-use plastic products release >1012 nano-sized particles during use; find microplastics to suppress lysosomal activity in mouse macrophages; first detection of microplastics within human lung tissue samples; in vitro neurotoxicity study finds microplastics negatively impact human forebrain organoid development

News Article

Scientists evaluate inhaled microplastics

Report microplastics occur in lower airways of European citizens with the majority being fibers; evaluate microplastics indoor and outdoor exposure sources; work out established particle domains and paradigms can help predict toxicity of inhaled microplastic particles

Publication Peer-reviewed papers

A vision for safer food contact materials: Public health concerns as drivers for improved testing

Muncke, J., Andersson, A.M., Backhaus, T., Belcher, S.M., Boucher, J.M., Almroth, B.C., Collins, T.J., Geueke, B., Groh, K.J., Heindel, J.J., von Hippel, F.A., Legler, J., Maffini, M.V., Martin, O.V., Myers, J.P., Nadal, A., Nerin, C., Soto, A.M., Trasande, L., Vandenberg, L.N., Wagner, M., Zimmermann, L., Zoeller, R.T., Scheringer, M.
2023, Environment Journal