International Food Contact Materials Safety Symposium in Guangzhou, China brings together academic, industry, regulatory and civil society experts to discuss developments towards safer and sustainable packaging
Combined evidence supports low-dose effects of BPA
Scientists integrate and interpret data from 8 of the 14 academic studies completed under the CLARITY-BPA project; link bisphenol A (BPA) exposure to impacts across multiple organs including brain, heart, prostate, mammary gland, ovaries; strengthen confidence in low-dose effects of BPA; co-authors to present results in webinar on July 21, 2020
EFSA: 5th FIP network meeting on FCMs
EFSA’s Food Ingredients and Packaging Scientific Network held fifth meeting on food contact materials on July 10-11, 2017; discussions focused on evaluating printing inks for FCMs
Mineral oils: Toxicity, exposure possibly underestimated
Scientific study compares accumulation of mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) in rats to humans; findings imply that current acceptable daily intake for MOSH may be set too high and current human exposure is underestimated
EFSA: Dietary exposure to BPA is unsafe
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) publishes scientific opinion on bisphenol A (BPA); tolerable daily intake reduced by a factor of 20 000; concludes that there is a health concern from current dietary BPA exposure levels for entire population
EFSA authorizes six PET recycling processes for up to 100 % use in food contact materials
EFSA authorized PET recycling processes based on the STARLINGER IV+ technology and the “RPET Nosinyec process”
EFSA: Survey on uncertainty in risk assessment
EFSA runs survey on communication of uncertainty in scientific risk assessments
Reviews examine biobased polymers
Several recent reviews examine the value chain of biobased polymers; discuss clarification of terms such as biobased, degradable, biodegradable, and compostable; define “biotechnological recycling (bio-recycling)” as the use of enzymes and microorganisms in a technological setting to biodegrade polymers; three biodegradable polymers assessed in marine field trials
Antimony trioxide an anticipated carcinogen
U.S. National Toxicology Program’s draft Report on Carcinogens monograph supports listing antimony trioxide as ‘reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen based on sufficient evidence from studies in experimental animals’
EDC criteria: Recent meetings
DG SANTE publishes summaries of recent meetings concerning the proposed EDC identification criteria; asks EFSA and ECHA to develop a harmonized guidance document for the implementation of EDC criteria