The Food Packing Forum reports on an article by Samsonek and Puype on “Occurrence of brominated flame retardants in black thermocups and selected kitchen utensils purchased on the European market” published on July 26, 2013 in the peer-reviewed journal Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A. The researchers from the Institute for Testing and Certification at Zlin, Czech Republic detected the following brominated flame retardants (BFR) in food contact materials (FCM): decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), tetrabromobisphenol A bis(2,3-dibromopropyl) ether (TBBPA-BDBPE) and decabromodiphenylethane (DBDPE). The authors conclude that polypropylene-polyethylene copolymers (PP-PE) and styrene-based FCMs such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) bear the highest risks of containing BFRs. Like other persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals, BFRs are suspected of causing neurobehavioral effects and to have endocrine disrupting properties. Therefore, BFRs are banned in Europe from use in FCM.

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FPF report “Brominated flame retardants in European food contact materials

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