EU Commission publishes 11th amendment to plastic FCM regulation, authorizes 2 new food contact substances, changes specific migration limits for 2 existing Union List substances
EFSA approves polymeric additive for use in FCMs
New additive copolymer in nanoform to be used in PVC and PLA
Inorganic elements in PHA bioplastics
Scientists measure content and migration of inorganic elements from polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA); report higher levels in PHA produced from municipal waste and wastewater sludge fractions compared to PHA produced from fruit wastes; in all cases migration below set migration limits
Lower BPA limit for baby soothers
European Committee for Standardization (CEN) lowers migration limit for bisphenol A in baby soothers to 0.01 mg/L
Draft toxicity assessment for GenX and PFBS
U.S. EPA releases draft toxicity assessments for fluorinated substances βGenX chemicalsβ and PFBS used as replacements for PFOA and PFOS; public comments accepted for 60 days after publication in Federal Register
Barrier films to prevent migration of mineral oils from FCMs
German company develops barrier films to prevent migration of mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) into food
New study: Chronic diseases caused by chemical exposures in great-grandmothers
Epigenetic mechanisms thought to be responsible for health effects in rat offspring after great-grandmothers were exposed to a chemical mixture during pregnancy
Predicting exposure to food contact chemicals
U.S. EPA scientists develop high-throughput computational models for predicting dietary exposure to chemicals from food packaging; exposure from food contact materials found to contribute significantly to overall exposures
Mineral oils in chocolate Santas
Foodwatch study finds typical Christmas chocolates and sweets to contain mineral oil residues; demands recall of affected products
Ames test insufficient for genotoxicity of FCMs
Scientists deem Ames test unsuitable as standalone method to evaluate genotoxicity of FCM migrates, suggest complementing it with chemical information