Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Food Packaging: Migration, Toxicity, and Management Strategies

Abstract

PFASs are linked to serious health and environmental concerns. Among their widespread applications, PFASs are known to be used in food packaging and directly contribute to human exposure. However, information about PFASs in food packaging is scattered. Therefore, we systematically map the evidence on PFASs detected in migrates and extracts of food contact materials and provide an overview of available hazard and biomonitoring data. Based on the FCCmigex database, 68 PFASs have been identified in various food contact materials, including paper, plastic, and coated metal, by targeted and untargeted analyses. 87% of these PFASs belong to the perfluorocarboxylic acids and fluorotelomer-based compounds. Trends in chain length demonstrate that long-chain perfluoroalkyl acids continue to be found, despite years of global efforts to reduce the use of these substances. We utilized ToxPi to illustrate that hazard data are available for only 57% of the PFASs that have been detected in food packaging. For those PFASs for which toxicity testing has been performed, many adverse outcomes have been reported. The data and knowledge gaps presented here support international proposals to restrict PFASs as a group, including their use in food contact materials, to protect human and environmental health.

Nonfluorinated Hydrophobic Porous Composite for Efficient Recovery of Oil from Oil–Water Emulsion and for Oil Spills Clean-up from Seawater

“…In this regard, several conventional techniques like oil burning and mechanical extraction for the separation of oils from water bodies are proven to be less effective, energy inefficient, and time-consuming methods . On the other hand, the adsorptive separation of targeted oil contaminants has been proven to be more productive than other techniques. − Although materials like monolithic aerogels, macroporous Fe/C nanocomposites, nano cellulose aerogels, metal mesh, and fibrous cotton have been tested, they often suffer from poor absorption capacity and are unable to remove oils from a more complicated system like oil–water emulsions. − In this view, porous materials such as metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent–organic frameworks (COFs) have also been either directly used or modified to gain superhydrophobicity to separate oil from water. − However, most of these materials required high-temperature, energy-consuming synthesis and incorporation of fluorinated functionality that is relatively complicated and less-ecofriendly. − Moreover, fluorinated materials often contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are known to persist in the environment and have adverse health effects On the other hand, Nonfluorinated superhydrophobic materials can be more cost-effective than fluorinated ones. They often utilize readily available and less expensive components, reducing production costs without compromising performance.…”