Oligomers in plastics packaging. Part 1: Migration tests for vinyl chloride tetramer

The COVID-19 pandemic redefining the mundane food packaging material industry?

COVID-19 pandemic has been the talk of the globe, as it swept across the world population, changing enumerable aspects. The pandemic affected all sectors directly or indirectly. The food sector took a direct hit. The food packaging sector rose to the occasion to serve and feed the pandemic affected, but there were interactions, reactions, and consequences that evolved through the course of the journey through the pandemic. The aim of this perspective is to address the importance of the food packaging industry (from the COVID-19 point of view) and to highlight the unpreparedness of the food packaging materials, for times as these. As the world has been asked to learn to live with Corona, improvisations are definitely necessary, the lapses in the system need to be rectified, and the entire packaging industry has to go through fortification to co-exist with Corona or confront something worse than Corona. This discussion is set out to understand the gravity of the actual situation, assimilating information available from the scattered shreds of reports. Food packaging materials were used, and plastic wastes were generated in bulks, single-use plastics for fear of contamination gained prominence, leading to an enormous turnover of wastes. Fear of Corona, sprayed overloads of sanitizers and disinfectants on food package material surfaces for surface sterilization. The food packages were tailored for food containment needs, never were they planned for sanitizer sprays. The consequences of these sanitization procedures are unprecedented, neglected and in the post-COVID-19 phase no action appears to have been taken. Corona took us by surprise this time, but next time atleast the food packaging industry needs to be fully equipped. Speculated consequences have been reviewed and plausible suggestions have been proposed. The need for extensive research focus in this direction in exploring the ground-reality has been highlighted.

Food packaging's materials: A food safety perspective

Food packaging serves purposes of food product safety and easy handling and transport by preventing chemical contamination and enhancing shelf life, which provides convenience for consumers. Various types of materials, including plastics, glass, metals, and papers and their composites, have been used for food packaging. However, owing to consumers' increased health awareness, the significance of transferring harmful materials from packaging materials into foods is of greater concern. This review highlights the interactions of food with packaging materials and elaborates the mechanism, types, and contributing factors of migration of chemical substances from the packaging to foods. Also, various types of chemical migrants from different packaging materials with their possible impacts on food safety and human health are discussed. We conclude with a future outlook based on legislative considerations and ongoing technical contributions to optimization of food-package interactions.

Postnatal Toxicity in Mice Attributable to Plastic Leachables in Peritoneal Dialysis Solution (PDS)

Peritoneal dialysis solution (PDS), widely used to treat uremia and renal failure, may contain toxicants that have leached from their plastic storage bags. In this study, PDS was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) into lactating mice to investigate effects in the offspring. Treatment started from the first day of delivery until weaning. Ten lactating dams were given PDS from a bag stored at room temperature (25°C). Another 10 received PDS from a bag preheated (50°C) overnight. A third 10 were given the control PDS. Following weaning, the offspring were subjected to various biochemical and hematological tests. The significant (p≤.05) effects were elevation in alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), nonprotein nitrogenous compounds (NPN), potassium, and triglycerides; drop in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol; rise in monocytes and granulocytes; and drop in lymphocyte. Preheating seems to have no effect on leachability rate, producing similar effects in offspring, compared with the control. These effects could be attributable to leachables from bags of the investigated PDS.

Effects of oil plastic extract on mice

In the plastics industry, various chemical additives are used to improve certain properties of plastics. Some of these chemicals, that might be toxic, have been proved to leach from the plastic containers and mix with their contents such as food oils, beverages, drugs, etc. Locally manufactured polyvinyl chloride (PVC) jerrycans were bought from the market and cut into small chips of 0.5 cm in the larger dimension. Four grams of chips were extracted with 20 ml cottonseed oil in the autoclave for 1 h at 121 degrees C. The extract was prepared daily and given orally to adult MFI mice in a dose of 10 ml kg(-1) body weight. Pure cottonseed oil was prepared under the same conditions and given in a dose of 10 ml kg(-1) body weight to the control group. Treatment of both groups continued for 1 month. Each group comprised 60 animals, regardless of sex. Effects of the oil plastic extract were observed on blood elements, serum transaminases (aspartate aminotransferase, AST, and alanine aminotransferase, ALT), organ-to-body weight of the liver, kidneys and brain, and the nervous system (effects on the neuromuscular junction and analgesia, using the Rota-Rod(R) treadmill 'RRT', and the hot plate, respectively). All the results were subjected to Student's t-test. The results showed that the extract induced significant effects: an increase in the activities of AST (p< 0.001) and ALT (p< 0.02), an increase in the mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) (p< 0.01), and the monocyte count (p< 0.01). It decreased the white blood cell count (WBC) (p< 0.01), the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) (p< 0.05), and the lymphocyte count (p< 0.05). It also reduced the weight of the liver (P< 0.01), kidneys (P< 0.05), and the endurance time on the RRT (p< 0.001).

Contamination in food from packaging material

Packaging has become an indispensible element in the food manufacturing process, and different types of additives, such as antioxidants, stabilizers, lubricants, anti-static and anti-blocking agents, have also been developed to improve the performance of polymeric packaging materials. Recently the packaging has been found to represent a source of contamination itself through the migration of substances from the packaging into food. Various analytical methods have been developed to analyze the migrants in the foodstuff, and migration evaluation procedures based on theoretical prediction of migration from plastic food contact material were also introduced recently. In this paper, the regulatory control, analytical methodology, factors affecting the migration and migration evaluation are reviewed.

European priorities for research to support legislation in the area of food contact materials and articles

A strong science base is required to underpin the planning and decision-making process involved in determining future European community legislation on materials and articles in contact with food. Significant progress has been made in the past 5 years in European funded work in this area, with many developments contributing to a much better understanding of the migration process, and better and simpler approaches to food control. In this paper this progress is reviewed against previously identified work-areas (identified in 1994) and conclusions are reached about future requirements for R&D to support legislation on food contact materials and articles over the next 5 or so years.