In an article published on April 16, 2019 by news provider Chemical Watch, the Canadian government is reported to have provisionally concluded that three triazine and triazole substances are not harmful at the present exposure levels. One of these three substances, hexa(methoxymethyl)melamine (CAS 3089-11-0), is used in food packaging and included in the FACET inventory of food contact materials. For hexa(methoxymethyl)melamine, the human exposure assessment through food considered its use as an agent in the manufacture of can coatings, but it was expected that only residual levels of the substance migrate due to bonding to the polymeric backbone. This resulted in a probable daily intake from this use of 0.0045 µg/kg body weight per day. Exposure through its use in filters for juice manufacturing was determined to be negligible, and exposure in non-food contact adhesives was not expected.
The draft screening assessment of the three substances concluded that they do not meet the criteria under Section 64 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act of 1999 to be classified as toxic “on the basis that they are not entering the environment in a quantity or concentration, or under conditions that have, or may have, an immediate or long-term harmful effect on the environment or human health.” However, a risk may exist if the exposures or use patterns of these substances were to change in the future. A public consultation on the draft assessment is open until June 11, 2019, and a final screening assessment is expected to be published in April, 2020.
In another draft screening, 21 inorganic substances were found by the Canadian government to not be harmful to human health or the environment at current exposure levels. These include the following substances that are within the FACET inventory of food contact materials:
- silicon carbide (CAS 409-21-2)
- molybdenum sulfide (CAS 1317-33-5)
- tin (CAS 7440-31-5)
- potassium iodide (CAS 7681-11-0)
- sodium iodide (CAS 7681-82-5)
- hydrogen peroxide (CAS 7722-84-1)
- sulfuric acid, barium salt (CAS 7727-43-7)
- barium hydroxide (CAS 17194-00-2)
- pigment yellow 42 (CAS 51274-00-1)
Read more
Chemical Watch (April 16, 2019). “Canada provisionally clears three triazines.”
References
Environment and Climate Change Canada (April 2019). “Draft Screening Assessment – Triazines and Triazole Group.”
Environment and Climate Change Canada (April 2019). “Draft screening assessment – Substances identified as being of low concern using the ecological risk classification of inorganic substances and three human health science approaches.”
