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Packaging of the future

Zurich University of Applied Sciences holds annual symposium; developments in sustainability, migration, and active and intelligent packaging discussed

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Microplastic impacts on child health: knowns and unknowns

Scientific commentary discusses pregnancy- and child-relevant exposure to and impacts of nano- and microplastics: finds 37 studies mostly on plastic particles in food and placental transfer, identifies major knowledge gaps, and advocates policymakers and industry to implement precautionary approaches; Nature Reviews Materials article proposes microplastic risk assessment framework

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Focus on EDC controversy

Health & Environment article outlines debate around 2012 WHO/UNEP report on EDCs; discusses value of state-of-the-science reviews and need for systematic review methods in complex research problems

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EFSA prioritizes substances for setting SMLs

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) panel publishes scientific opinion prioritizing 451 substances for creation of specific migration limits (SMLs) for plastic food contact materials; the 3 identified high priority substances are salicylic acid, styrene, and vinyl laurate

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Investors urge major companies to reduce single-use plastic packaging

Investors with over $10 trillion in assets call for urgent action to reduce single-use plastic packaging in the fast-moving consumer goods and grocery retail sectors; cite environmental, climate, and public health threats posed by the entire plastics lifecycle; express concern over the financial risks to companies and investors

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Scientists propose and apply NIAS identification approaches

Review provides guidance to select analytical technique for non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) identification and quantification in food contact materials (FCMs); scientific studies analyze NIAS migrating from FCMs; develop model to predict collision cross-section values to identify NIAS in FCMs; detect polyethylene terephthalate (PET) oligomers in post-mortem blood samples

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Plastic recycling: Future scenarios and behavioral influences

Five articles discuss future recycling and/or consumer waste sorting; outline future recycling technologies and recycled plastic applications; identify gaps between recycling technologies and targets of multi-material multilayer plastic packaging; find consumers wrongly dispose bioplastics and that packaging design affects sorting behavior; show single-use bag bans able to increase recycling contamination