Food contact substances and chemicals of concern: a comparison of inventories

Abstract

Food contact materials (FCMs) are intended to be in contact with food during production, handling or storage. They are one possible source of food contamination, because chemicals may migrate from the material into the food. More than 6000 FCM substances appear on regulatory or non-regulatory lists. Some of these substances have been linked to chronic diseases, whilst many others lack (sufficient) toxicological evaluation. The aim of this study was the identification of known FCM substances that are also considered to be chemicals of concern (COCs). The investigation was based on the following three FCM lists: (1) the 2013 Pew Charitable Trusts database of direct and indirect food additives legally used in the United States (or Pew for short), (2) the current European Union-wide positive list for plastic FCMs (or Union for short), and (3) the 2011 non-plastics FCM substances database published by EFSA (or ESCO for short). These three lists of food contact substances (Pew, Union, ESCO lists) were compared with the Substitute It Now! (SIN) list 2.1, which includes chemicals fulfilling the criteria listed in article 57 of Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 (REACH), and the TEDX database on endocrine-disrupting chemicals. A total of 175 chemicals used in FCMs were identified as COCs. Fifty-four substances present on the SIN list 2.1 were also found on the Union and/or ESCO lists. Twenty-one of those 54 substances are candidates for Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC), and six of these 21 are listed on Annex XIV and intended for phase-out under REACH. In conclusion, COCs used in FCMs were identified and information about their applications, regulatory status and potential hazards was included.

Substances of Very High Concern in Food Contact Materials: Migration and Regulatory Background

“…Fifty‐four substances from European FCM lists were identified on the Substitute It Now list, which is a non‐regulatory list of substances applying the criteria for SVHCs given in Article 57 of REACH. Twenty‐one of these 54 substances were officially classified as SVHCs . Six FCM substances became subject to authorization by placing them on Annex XIV and are intended for phase‐out under REACH .…”

Identification of substances migrating from plastic baby bottles using a combination of low‐resolution and high‐resolution mass spectrometric analysers coupled to gas and liquid chromatography

“…Nowadays, there is an increasing concern over the presence of hazardous chemicals in food contact materials (FCMs) . Many of these FCMs are made of plastics, which, next to the polymer, contain complex mixtures of compounds, such as monomers, additives, catalysts or degradation products.…”

Kontaminanten aus Lebensmittelverpackungen

“…Es wird im Bericht des Europäischen Parlaments darauf hingewiesen, dass zwischen der Regulation von Materialien für den Lebensmittelkontakt und der EU-Chemikalienverordnung REACH eine engere Abstimmung insbesondere im Hinblick auf die als CMR-Stoffe (kanzerogen, mutagen, reproduktionstoxisch)oderSVHCs (substances of very high concern) eingestuften Substanzen erfolgen sollte. Geueke et al [3]führeneine Reihe vonCMR-Substanzen auf, die als Kunststoffmonomere und -additive (EU-Richtlinie 10/2011) oder als Stoffe in anderen Materialien [4] für den Kontakt mit Lebensmitteln gelistet sind. Entsprechend eingestufte oder als problematisch erkannte Substanzen (Beispiele in .…”