On October 14, 2016 the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavorings and Processing Aids (CEF Panel) published a scientific opinion on the safety assessment of 2,3,3,4,4,5,5-heptafluoro-1-pentene (CAS 1547-26-8) for use in food contact materials (FCMs). The substance shall be used as a comonomer, in combination with the comonomers ethylene and tetrafluoroethylene, in the manufacture of fluoropolymers. The fluoropolymer is intended for use as a polymeric processing agent in a wide range of plastics, and finished articles are intended for contact with all types of foodstuffs at room temperature or below with no time limit, or at high temperatures. The CEF Panel reported that worst-case migration of the substance, the sum of its impurities, and the fluoropolymer low molecular weight oligomers below 1,500 Da from finished articles were estimated to be 0.02 μg/kg food, below 0.02 μg/kg food, and 1.5 μg/kg food, respectively. Further, the CEF Panel considered the substance of no concern regarding genotoxicity based on negative results in a bacterial mutation assay and in an in vivo combined micronucleus/comet assay. Therefore, the CEF Panel concluded that 2,3,3,4,4,5,5-heptafluoro-1-pentene is safe for consumers if used as described to manufacture fluoropolymers for application as a polymer processing aid at up to 0.2% w/w of the FCM. The CEF Panel noted that the low molecular weight fraction below 1,500 Da in the fluoropolymer should not exceed 30 mg/kg.
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CEF (October 14, 2016). “Safety assessment of the substance 2,3,3,4,4,5,5-heptafluoro-1-pentene, for use in food contact materials.”
