Article discusses history of PFOA, focusing on environmental and public health effects, legal consequences and regulatory implications
New Jersey bans all carryout bags, polystyrene foam packaging
Legislature for US state of New Jersey passes bill banning both plastic and paper single-use bags, polystyrene foam food containers; plastic straw use to be limited; bill will be signed by governor and enter into force 18 months later
Dope Labs Podcast – PFAS in Food Packaging
Science podcast interviews Justin Boucher from the Food Packaging Forum on PFAS, their use in food packaging, and the regulatory and business changes underway to address increasing global concern about their impacts on health
2018 retailer ranking published
Non-profit organization Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families releases annual retailer report card; restaurant chains make insufficient efforts to remove hazardous chemicals from food packaging
US EPA reissues PFBS risk assessment
US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) reissues risk assessment on perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS); sets reference doses for chronic exposure of 0.0003 mg/kg body weight/day and sub-chronic exposures of 0.001 mg/kg body weight/day
PFAS in breast milk
Study shows that breast milk is major source of exposure to perfluorinated chemicals for infants; researchers express concern but do not discourage breastfeeding
More retailers take part in annual ranking
Non-profit organization Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families includes 12 new retailers in annual ranking of progress towards eliminating toxic chemicals and using safer alternatives
Recent reports on creating more circular food packaging
World Economic Forum (WEF) releases report on the Future of Reusable Consumption Models; aims to clarify “an alternative plastic waste-reduction model… beyond the recycling of waste”; Upstream publishes design principles for reusable packaging materials; The Consumer Goods Forum publishes nine “Golden Design Rules” for plastic packaging to increase recyclability
France to launch glass deposit system
French government has announced plans to establish glass deposit system; aims to phase out single-use plastics by 2040; incentivizes reusable glass with dedicated fund of 50 million Euro
NIAS in polypropylene films
Scientists study migration from food packaging films made of polypropylene; 74 compounds identified, 76% of them NIAS; 35% of samples show migration exceeding either SML or Cramer class-based recommendations