Washington State’s Department of Ecology (Ecology) hosted a webinar on Hazard and Exposure Methodology and Decision Rules concerning Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in food packaging on February 11, 2020. Washington’s Toxics in Packaging Law (RCW 70.95G) was amended in 2018 to include a ban on PFAS in food packaging that will take effect following the identification of safer alternative products.
On February 24, 2020, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) published a draft scientific opinion on the risks to human health related to the presence of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food. The draft opinion recommends a tolerable weekly intake (TWI) of 8 ng/kg bw per week for the sum of four PFAS: perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS).
Food and beverage cans with liners containing phenolic compounds and printing inks containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been named as draft priority consumer products under Washington State’s Safer Products Program.
On January 14, 2020, California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) hosted a workshop on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and their alternatives in food packaging. California is considering prioritizing PFASs in food packaging under its Green Chemistry/Safer Consumer Products legislation.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on December 4, 2019, to solicit public input regarding the potential addition of certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the list of chemicals subject to reporting under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act and Section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (also known as the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)).
Connecticut has published an action plan on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that includes several recommendations related to food packaging.
Last week, California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) hosted a webinar where it presented initial findings from its evaluation of food packaging, conducted under its Safer Consumer Products Regulations. During the webinar, DTSC noted that it is considering the prioritization of ortho-phthalates (OPs),
Denmark plans to ban all organic fluorinated compounds in paper and paperboard food-contact materials (FCMs). The ban is undergoing external consultation and the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration expects the ban to take effect in July 2020, according to a press release (in Danish) issued on September 4. The use of recycled paper that contains fluorine would continue to be allowed but only if it is separated from the food by a functional barrier to migration.
The final text of San Francisco’s Plastic, Litter, and Toxics Reduction Law clarifies that a ban on fluorinated chemicals in food service items, which became effective in 2020, only applies to food service items that are compostable. The law states, “No person may sell, offer for sale, or otherwise Distribute within the City… (4) beginning January 1, 2020, any Food Service Ware that is Compostable and not Fluorinated Chemical Free.” (SF Municipal Code, Chapter 16 (“Food Service and Packaging Waste Reduction Ordinance,” Section 1603).
On June 13, Maine’s governor signed L.D. 1433 (H.P. 1043) into law. The law amends the state’s toxic chemicals in packaging law to prohibit the intentional use of phthalates in food packaging, effective January 1, 2022.