9th annual Food Packaging Forum workshop brings stakeholders from different fields together to discuss the latest science, policy, and stakeholder collaboration across the field; presentation videos, slides, and summary articles now available
October 13, 2021
Why do “chemicals” need simplifying?
Scientists’ Viewpoint proposes ‘chemical simplification’ to deal with increasing chemical pollution; names reduction of number of chemicals used in products and grouping approaches as cornerstones for simplification and innovation in science and engineering as prerequisite
September 30, 2021
Microplastics measured in newborn, infant, and adult feces
Small study assesses polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate (PC) microplastics in human feces; finds PET and PC in all infant stool and in most meconium and adult stool samples; suggests higher exposure of infants than adults
August 18, 2021
Toxicological and chemical profiling of plastic migrates
Scientific study investigates in vitro toxicity and composition of chemical mixtures migrating from everyday plastic products made of eight polymer types; demonstrates that thousands of chemicals can leach under realistic use conditions, including compounds toxic in vitro that contribute to human exposure; emphasizes the importance to rethink and redesign plastics to achieve safe materials
July 15, 2021
Bioassay-based analysis of chemicals in paper & cardboard
Scientific study evaluates presence of hazardous chemicals in methanolic extracts from paper and cardboard food contact materials (FCMs) using several bioassays; finds oxidative stress (52%), genotoxicity (100%), impacts on xenobiotic metabolism (74%), antiandrogenic (52%) and antioestrogenic effects (39%); recommends an effect-based approach for hazard identification of food contact chemicals
May 26, 2021
EFSA seeks comments on chemical mixtures research and prioritization
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) announces public consultation period concerning draft on “scientific criteria for grouping chemicals into assessment groups for human risk assessment” of chemical mixtures; particular focus on chemicals related to food and feed safety; seeking feedback from experts in chemical risk assessment, organizations and people in the field of chemicals mixtures and food safety; comment period ends July 10, 2021
March 30, 2021
Tackling the toxics in plastics packaging
Article in PLOS Biology discusses hazardous chemicals in plastics; highlights chemicals as critical but often missing aspect in plastic pollution discussion; proposes rethinking current approach to plastic packaging toxicity testing
February 12, 2021
CHEM Trust launches chemical mixtures resources page
Civil society organization develops resources webpage dedicated to recent scientific research and policy initiatives related to chemical mixtures; provides overview and links to scientific projects and policy reports
February 10, 2021
GUTS model adapted to chemical mixtures
Study in Environmental Science Technology on adapted General Unified Threshold model for Survival (GUTS) for environmental risk assessment of chemical mixtures; includes time dimension, approach can be extended to multiple compounds, evaluate synergistic or additive interaction
February 3, 2021
Second episode of ‘Unwrapping Food Packaging’ video blog released
Food Packaging Forum publishes second episode of new video blog; discusses if low levels of chemicals migrating from food packaging are safe; introduces viewers to the concepts of non-monotonic dose response, endocrine disrupting chemicals, mixture toxicity, and timing of exposure
