C&EN presents the debate on the costs of food packaging made of flexible plastics and multilayered structures: Less food waste and economic benefits vs. more difficult recycling and negative environmental impacts
"Zero-waste" retailers
The Huffington Post reports on U.S. grocery stores offering only bulk, unpackaged food and household products to reduce food and packaging waste
BPA in cans from ethnic stores
Center for Environmental Health provides information on BPA presence in coatings of cans sold in small ethnic stores in U.S.; finds BPA in coatings of over 90% of surveyed cans; calls for listing of these products in California’s Proposal65 database on BPA
Why do “chemicals” need simplifying?
Scientists’ Viewpoint proposes ‘chemical simplification’ to deal with increasing chemical pollution; names reduction of number of chemicals used in products and grouping approaches as cornerstones for simplification and innovation in science and engineering as prerequisite
Scientific studies evaluate microplastic effects on human cells
Rapid review assesses microplastics impacts on human cells and reports thresholds of effects lower than previously predicted; scientific study finds polystyrene (PS) microplastics to have nephrotoxic potential; reproduction and fertility study with mice reports PS microplastics to affect females more than males
Towards standardization of paper and cardboard sample preparation procedures
Scoping review assesses state-of-the-art of paper and cardboard food packaging safety assessment; maps sample preparation approaches, challenges, and factors influencing chemical migration; provides guidance to develop and evaluate standardized sample preparation methods
Switzerland: 25% of PVC lid gaskets exceed plasticizer migration limits
Swiss national campaign analyses 109 oily food samples packaged in glass jars on the compliance of migration of plasticizers from their lid gaskets; comparison with European campaigns conducted a decade ago shows similar proportion of non-compliant samples with non-polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-gasket; urges food businesses to pay more attention to the suitability of their products lids
Plastics identified as source of legal liability
Minderoo Foundation finds liabilities from the health and environmental effects of microplastics and plastic-related chemicals to be worth more than $20 billion in the US by 2030; potentially up to $100 billion in liabilities expected by 2030 with the number expected to increase in the future; article published by the American Bar Association focuses on potential corporate liabilities from micro- and nanoplastics in particular
Using ToxCast data to assess food chemicals
Scientists explore the utility of-throughput screening data for hazard assessment and toxicological read-across of food-relevant chemicals; observe some biological targets to lack validated toxicity associations; demonstrate application in identifying out-of-domain compounds
ECHA urged to share ‘strategic information’
ClientEarth report criticizes ECHA’s lack of transparency, requests more information on harmful chemicals in the EU, companies’ compliance, EU’s decision-making processes with regard to chemical safety