Sustainable Packaging

 

Health

 

  • How healthy is food packaging?

    From your food’s perspective, packaging mostly is plastic: milk cartons, beer cans, and paper cups all have a plastic-type lining in direct food contact. Today there is increasing concern about the health aspects of plastic food packaging because it leaches low-levels of chemicals into food.
    In the past, low-levels have been associated with low risk. But recent scientific findings indicate that this estimation may not correctly reflect actual risk:
     
    • Chemicals like BPA that are endocrine disrupters can affect and interfere with our hormones at low levels.
    • Mixtures of endocrine disrupting chemicals can act additively to cause effects, even if the individual chemicals are present at low levels.
    • When endocrine disrupting chemicals reach the fetus or developing child they can cause changes that can lead to chronic disease later in life. The early stages of developing life are particularly vulnerable to endocrine disrupting chemicals, even at low doses.

    • For these reasons more and more scientists are concerned about endocrine disrupting chemicals. Plastic-type materials, like the ones used in food packaging, are made with several different endocrine disrupting chemicals. This short movie clip (5'50 min) gives an introduction to new toxicology concepts beyond “the dose makes the poison” and their relevance for food packaging. All materials presented in the film are taken from peer-reviewed scientific publications (available upon request).

 

 

  • 21st Century Toxicology and its Implications for Regulation of Food-Contact Substances ----> Free Download

 

  • Exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds via the food chain: Is packaging a relevant source?

    Contamination of foodstuffs by environmental pollutants (e.g. dioxins, metals) receives much attention. Until recently, food packaging as a source of xenobiotics, especially those with endocrine disrupting properties, has received little awareness despite its ubiquitous use. This article reviews the regulations and use of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in food packaging and discusses their presence within the context of new toxicology paradigms. I focused on substances known to be legally used in food packaging that have been shown to exhibit endocrine disruptive effects in biological systems. I compiled a list of 50 known or potential EDCs used in food contact materials and examined data of EDCs leaching from packaging into food, with a focus on nonylphenol. I included recent advances in toxicology: mixture effects, the developmental origins of adult disease hypothesis, low-dose effects, and epigenetics. I especially considered the case of bisphenol A. The core hypothesis of this review is that chemicals leaching from packaging into food contribute to human EDCs exposure and might lead to chronic disease in light of the current knowledge. Food contact materials are a major source of food contaminants. Many migrating compounds, possibly with endocrine disruptive properties, remain unidentified. There is a need for information on identity/quantity of chemicals leaching into food, human exposure, and long-term impact on health. Especially EDCs in food packaging are of concern. Even at low concentrations, chronic exposure to EDCs is toxicologically relevant. Concerns increase when humans are exposed to mixtures of similar acting EDCs and/or during sensitive windows of development. In particular, non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) migrating from food contact materials need toxicological characterization; the overall migrate of the finished packaging could be evaluated for biological effects using bioassays. The widespread legal use of EDCs in food packaging requires dedicated assessment and should be updated according to contemporary scientific knowledge.

    ---> More Information 
    ---> Request pdf

     

  • Healthy Food Packaging: Looking at Bisphenol A and Beyond ---> More Information [free registration required]

 

  • NOTHING is good for you: Friends of Glass health awareness campaign (October 2010) --> More Information

 

Environment