On October 23, 2020, researchers from the Seberang Perai Selatan District Health Office and Universiti Sains in Malaysia as well as the Centro de Investigaciόn en Alimentaciόn y Desarrollo in Mexico published an article in the peer-reviewed journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition providing an overview of the migration of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) from plastic packaging materials. The review offers a summary of the most common chemical risk assessment procedures taken, techniques being used to monitor migration, and relevant international regulations addressing EDCs in food contact materials (FCMs).
The article introduces the concept of migration, the types of chemicals that can migrate from FCMs, migration test methods being used for plastic FCMs, and present trends in risk assessment. In a section focusing on recent global advances in legislation pertaining to EDCs, the article discusses how the EU, US, South America, China, Japan, and Malaysia regulate FCMs and which regions specifically consider EDCs. As the demand for packaged food continues to increase, the authors identify the challenges that remain in identifying and assessing the presence of non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) and considering mixture toxicity and the non-monotonic dose responses of chemicals. Bioplastics are also highlighted as a growing material group with still developing legislation and research.
Reference
Ong, H. et al. (October 16, 2020). “Migration of endocrine-disrupting chemicals into food from plastic packaging materials: an overview of chemical risk assessment, techniques to monitor migration, and international regulations.” Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition
