Are low levels of chemicals in food packaging safe?

Описание: In this second episode of the Unwrapping Food Packaging vlog, Dr. Jane Muncke from the Food Packaging Forum discusses how chemicals are defined as ‘safe’ by many regulatory bodies through chemical risk assessments, including the concepts of hazard and exposure. She presents on why low levels of chemicals present in food packaging may not mean that they are safe levels. This includes understanding (i) non-monotonic dose responses where higher effects from a chemical are seen at lower concentrations, (ii) that mixtures of chemicals migrate together from food packaging, and (iii) the importance of the timing of exposure to a chemical (such as on pre-natal or early life phases).

Watch all episodes of the Unwrapping Food Packaging video blog: https://www.foodpackagingforum.org/vi...

*Links and References*

Costa, S.A., Vilela, S., Correia, D., Severo, M., Lopes, C. and Torres, D. (2020), "Consumption of packaged foods by the Portuguese population: type of materials and its associated factors." British Food Journal.
https://www.emerald.com/insight/conte...

EU legal definition of safety (EU 1935/2004, Art. 3.1.(a))
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conte...

Non-monotonic dose-response: vom Saal et al. 1997 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94 pp. 2056-2061
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9050904/

Low doses matter (Health and Environment Alliance)
https://www.env-health.org/infographi...

Food Packaging Forum’s list of priority food contact chemicals and food contact chemicals database (FCCdb)
https://www.foodpackagingforum.org/ne...

*More Background Information*

Endocrine Disruptors: From Scientific Evidence to Human Health Protection
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinkta...

Mixture toxicity: Silva, E. et al. (2002) "Something from nothing." Env Sci Technol 36(8):1751-1756.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es01...

Tanner, E. et al. (2019). "Early prenatal exposure to suspected endocrine disruptor mixtures is associated with lower IQ at age seven." Environmental International.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31668...