Scientists from University of Southampton publish life cycle assessment (LCA) estimating primarily environmental impacts of five types of packaging across three beverage categories; find lowest impacts caused by recycled aluminum cans for pressurized drinks, Tetra Pak for fruit juices, cartons for milk
PFAS action plan by U.S. State of Connecticut
Interagency task force recommends reducing sources of PFAS including identifying uses in food packaging, enhancing state procurement of PFAS-free products, creation of ad-hoc group to review current research and nationwide actions
Dispute over EDCs continues
Correspondence articles in Nature express opposing opinions on hazard identification of endocrine disruptors and how they should be regulated
US: New attempt to ban BPA
Congress reintroduces bill to ban BPA, would require safety review of the safety of all food contact substances
China developing or updating many food safety standards in 2024
China’s National Health Commission publishes new standard for food contact adhesives, effective February 2025; also publishes food safety standards development plan for 2024 including three pertaining to food contact chemical migration; evaluation of food contact plastics recycling may also come this year
Cefic releases mid-century report and action plan
European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) publishes report outlining vision for European chemical industry until 2050, launches action plan to review and improve REACH registration dossiers
Nanomaterials regulation in different countries
New JRC-study reviews regulatory measures for nanotechnology in food and feed production in different countries; only EU and Switzerland have legally binding nano-specific provisions
Study finds PFAS with carcinogenic characteristics
Scientists from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Indiana University investigate 26 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), find all exhibit at least one or more characteristic of known human carcinogens
Microplastics measured in human blood and mouse brains
First human biomonitoring study encounters plastic particles of four different polymer types in human blood; in vivo study reports polystyrene nanoparticles pass blood-brain barrier and induce neurotoxicity in mice; review summarizes plastic particle and titanium dioxide impacts on human gut epithelial integrity, gut homeostasis, and intestinal inflammation