According to a press release published May 27, 2014 by the University of California (UC), Santa Cruz, U.S. the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) will fund the research into safe and affordable alternatives to phthalate plasticizers at UC Santa Cruz. The NSF funds an approach developed by Rebecca Braslau, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC Santa Cruz, whose work aims to chemically bind phthalate mimics to the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) polymer so they cannot migrate out of the matrix into food. If migration does occur, the phthalates would be “part of a larger molecule that wouldn’t have the same health effects” Braslau states in the press release. In her approach the reaction linking polymers and plasticizers takes place at room temperature (Braslau et al 2014) making the process relatively simple and affordable.
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UC Santa Cruz (May 27, 2014). “NSF grant funds development of alternatives to phthalate plasticizers.”
