US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adds 13 new entries to its Inventory of Effective Food Contact Substance (FCS); notifications submitted since August 6, 2020
Article discusses toxic chemical exposure and COVID-19
Environmental Health News calls for reducing public’s exposure to toxic chemicals within food packaging, processed foods; cites studies linking COVID-19 death risk to existing chronic conditions, calls out chemicals as exacerbating the problem
COVID-19 to not delay EU single-use plastic directive
Industry association request to delay pending restrictions denied by European Commission; member states still expected to implement directive into national laws by original deadline
EFSA: New safe liquid absorber
EFSA finds liquid absorber based on crosslinked polyacrylic acid and sodium salt safe for food contact; does not exceed migration limit
7 steps to identify EDCs
New ECETOC report presents step-by-step guidance for identifying endocrine disrupting chemicals; complements EDC guidance developed by ECHA and EFSA and focuses on weight-of-evidence approach
Opinion: EDC decision matrix not suitable
CHEM Trust analyzes “option 4b” to identify EDCs as proposed by German risk assessment institute and considers method as not adequate to set EDC criteria
Two active substances authorized for food contact
EFSA authorizes citric acid and sodium hydrogen carbonate as carbon dioxide generators in food packaging
Third roundtable meeting on endocrine disruptors
EDC roadmap, impact assessment, public consultation and on-going studies discussed by members of the European Commission and Parliament
ECHA survey identifies drivers and barriers of chemical substitution
European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) publishes report on motivations for companies to substitute hazardous chemicals; greatest drivers found to be regulatory restrictions under REACH, customer demand, internal sustainability strategies
Long-term migration from polyester coating
Scientists analyze long-term migration from polyester can coating, find hydrolysis of oligomers after long storage; modification of testing protocols suggested