Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in food packaging: Migration, toxicity, and management strategies
- DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c03702
- News article
A vision for safer food contact materials: Public health concerns as drivers for improved testing
- DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108161
- News article
Hazardous chemicals in recycled and reusable plastic food packaging
- DOI: //doi.org/10.1017/plc.2023.7
Evaluating the food safety and risk assessment evidence-base of polyethylene terephthalate oligomers: A systematic evidence map
- DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107978
Background: The presence of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) oligomers in food contact materials (FCMs) is well-documented. Consumers are exposed through their migration into foods and beverages; however, there is no specific guidance for their safety evaluation.
Objectives: This systematic evidence map (SEM) aims to identify and organize existing knowledge and associated gaps in hazard and exposure information on 34 PET oligomers to support regulatory decision-making.
Methods: The methodology for this SEM was recently registered. A systematic search in bibliographic and gray literature sources was conducted and studies evaluated for inclusion according to the Populations, Exposures, Comparators, Outcomes, and Study type (PECOS) framework. Inclusion criteria were designed to record hazard and exposure information for all 34 PET oligomers and coded into the following evidence streams: human, animal, organism (non-animal), ex vivo, in vitro, in silico, migration, hydrolysis, and absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion/toxicokinetics/pharmacokinetics (ADME/TK/PK) studies. Relevant information was extracted from eligible studies and synthesized according to the protocol.
Results: Literature searches yielded 7445 unique records, of which 96 were included. Data comprised migration (560 entries), ADME/TK/PK-related (253 entries), health/bioactivity (98 entries) and very few hydrolysis studies (7 entries). Cyclic oligomers were studied more frequently than linear PET oligomers. In vitro results indicated that hydrolysis of cyclic oligomers generated a mixture of linear oligomers, but not monomers, potentially allowing their absorption in the gastrointestinal tract. Cyclic dimers, linear trimers and the respective smaller oligomers exhibit physico-chemical properties making oral absorption more likely. Information on health/ bioactivity effects of oligomers was almost non-existent, except for limited data on mutagenicity.
Conclusions: This SEM revealed substantial deficiencies in the available evidence on ADME/TK/PK, hydrolysis, and health/bioactivity effects of PET oligomers, currently preventing appropriate risk assessment. It is essential to develop more systematic and tiered approaches to address the identified research needs and assess the risks of PET oligomers.
Unpacking the complexity of the polyethylene food contact articles value chain: A chemicals perspective
- DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131422
The NORMAN Suspect List Exchange (NORMAN-SLE): facilitating European and worldwide collaboration on suspect screening in high resolution mass spectrometry
- DOI: 10.1186/s12302-022-00680-6
The NORMAN Association (//www.norman-network.com/) initiated the NORMAN Suspect List Exchange (NORMAN-SLE; //www.norman-network.com/nds/SLE/) in 2015, following the NORMAN collaborative trial on non-target screening of environmental water samples by mass spectrometry. Since then, this exchange of information on chemicals that are expected to occur in the environment, along with the accompanying expert knowledge and references, has become a valuable knowledge base for “suspect screening” lists. The NORMAN-SLE now serves as a FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) chemical information resource worldwide.
Results
The NORMAN-SLE contains 99 separate suspect list collections (as of May 2022) from over 70 contributors around the world, totalling over 100,000 unique substances. The substance classes include per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals, pesticides, natural toxins, high production volume substances covered under the European REACH regulation (EC: 1272/2008), priority contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and regulatory lists from NORMAN partners. Several lists focus on transformation products (TPs) and complex features detected in the environment with various levels of provenance and structural information. Each list is available for separate download. The merged, curated collection is also available as the NORMAN Substance Database (NORMAN SusDat). Both the NORMAN-SLE and NORMAN SusDat are integrated within the NORMAN Database System (NDS). The individual NORMAN-SLE lists receive digital object identifiers (DOIs) and traceable versioning via a Zenodo community (//zenodo.org/communities/norman-sle), with a total of > 40,000 unique views, > 50,000 unique downloads and 40 citations (May 2022). NORMAN-SLE content is progressively integrated into large open chemical databases such as PubChem (//pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) and the US EPA’s CompTox Chemicals Dashboard (//comptox.epa.gov/dashboard/), enabling further access to these lists, along with the additional functionality and calculated properties these resources offer. PubChem has also integrated significant annotation content from the NORMAN-SLE, including a classification browser (//pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/classification/#hid=101).
Conclusions
The NORMAN-SLE offers a specialized service for hosting suspect screening lists of relevance for the environmental community in an open, FAIR manner that allows integration with other major chemical resources. These efforts foster the exchange of information between scientists and regulators, supporting the paradigm shift to the “one substance, one assessment” approach. New submissions are welcome via the contacts provided on the NORMAN-SLE website (//www.norman-network.com/nds/SLE/).
Evaluating the food safety and risk assessment evidence-base of polyethylene terephthalate oligomers: Protocol for a systematic evidence map
- DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107387
Background
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) oligomers are ubiquitous in PET used in food contact applications. Consumer exposure by migration of PET oligomers into food and beverages is documented. However, no specific risk assessment framework or guidance for the safety evaluating of PET oligomers exist to date.
Aim
The aim of this systematic evidence map (SEM) is to identify and organize existing knowledge clusters and associated gaps in hazard and exposure information of PET oligomers. Research needs will be identified as an input for chemical risk assessment, and to support future toxicity testing strategies of PET oligomers and regulatory decision-making.
Search strategy and eligibility criteria
Multiple bibliographic databases (incl. Embase, Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection), chemistry databases (SciFinder-n, Reaxys), and gray literature sources will be searched, and the search results will be supplemented by backward and forward citation tracking on eligible records. The search will be based on a single-concept PET oligomer-focused strategy to ensure sensitive and unbiased coverage of all evidence related to hazard and exposure in a data-poor environment. A scoping exercise conducted during planning identified 34 relevant PET oligomers. Eligible work of any study type must include primary research data on at least one relevant PET oligomer with regard to exposure, health, or toxicological outcomes.
Study selection
For indexed scientific literature, title and abstract screening will be performed by one reviewer. Selected studies will be screened in full-text by two independent reviewers. Gray literature will be screened by two independent reviewers for inclusion and exclusion.
Study quality assessment
Risk of bias analysis will not be conducted as part of this SEM.
Data extraction and coding
Will be performed by one reviewer and peer-checked by a second reviewer for indexed scientific literature or by two independent reviewers for gray literature.
Synthesis and visualization
The extracted and coded information will be synthesized in different formats, including narrative synthesis, tables, and heat maps.
Systematic map protocol registry and registration number
Zenodo: //doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6224302.
Implementing the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability: The case of Food Contact Chemicals of Concern
- DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129167
- News summary article
Systematic Evidence on migrating and extractable Food Contact Chemicals: Most Chemicals detected in Food Contact Materials are not listed for Use
- DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2022.2067828
- News summary article
Unpacking the complexity of the PET drink bottles value chain: A chemicals perspective
- DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128410
- News summary article