On December 20, 2017, the EU Reference Laboratory for Food Contact Materials (EURL-FCM) of the European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Centre (JRC) published a final report on its work in support of the revision of the EU Ceramic Directive 84/500/EEC. The revision foresees to lower the migration limits for lead and cadmium and also include limits for other metals. The report, entitled “Towards suitable tests for the migration of metals from ceramic and crystal tableware,” summarizes EURL-FCM’s investigations and research on the topic conducted over the past few years.
For ceramics, EURL-FCM suggests three successive migration tests for 24 hours at 22 °C using 4% acetic acid. Also for crystalware, a repeat test of two hours at 22 °C with 4% acetic acid is recommended. There are “several analytical methods . . . with satisfactory performance” for analyzing migration solutions at the proposed lower levels for lead, cadmium, and other metals. “The performance of the official control laboratories was also satisfactory for enforcement at these levels, as shown by two interlaboratory comparisons, “ EURL-FCM noted (FPF reported).
Read more
EURL-FCM (December 20, 2017). “Towards suitable tests for the migration of metals from ceramic and crystal tableware: Work in support of the revision of the Ceramic Directive 84/500/EEC.”
Clelia Oziel (January 4, 2018). “EU JRC suggests successive migration tests for metals from tableware ceramics.” Chemical Watch
Reference
Simoneau, C., et al. (2017). “Towards suitable tests for the migration of metals from ceramic and crystal tableware: Work in support of the revision of the Ceramic Directive 84/500/EEC.” JRC Technical Reports EUR 28872 EN. (pdf)
