This also includes findings from researchers at the University of Basel: They are investigating plastic molecules that were previously unknown or barely known.
Over 3,000 proven chemicals are listed in the “Food Packaging Forum” database. An international team of experts supported the implementation of this multi-year project and contributed to the creation of a database of previously unrecorded chemicals that can get into food through packaging.
These also include so-called oligomers; Molecules consisting of several building blocks (monomers) that are used in the production of plastics and are created as by-products in this process. The recording of oligomers in the database was carried out by Dr. Verena Schreier and Prof. Dr. Alex Odermatt from the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Basel, supported. The two molecular and systems toxicologists examine plastics and their pollutants that unintentionally find their way into food.
The big problem with these substances: “It is difficult to look for them because these substances are not added consciously, but are unexpected by-products,” explains Odermatt. It is therefore not clear in what concentration they are present in the plastics and whether they can be released. Accordingly, the plastics are not tested for these substances and the substances themselves have not yet been analyzed for their safety. The new database should change that.
Oligomers in food packaging
A well-known example that is often used as a packaging material is polyethylene terephthalate. “With PET, there are around 50 oligomers that have been detected in the products so far,” says Odermatt. With his research in the ToxOligo project, which is supported by the federal government, he and his team want to make these special substances and their effects better known.
Many of these oligomers are found in packaging material and therefore come into contact with food. From there they enter the human body. “Many of these substances have already been detected in humans,” says Odermatt. The EU REACH regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) does provide a political basis for the handling of chemical substances. But this only takes effect once the substances and corresponding test systems are known. “It is then up to the industry to ensure that only harmless substances end up in food packaging,” says Odermatt.
The findings so far do not surprise the toxicologist: “It is always the case that the introduction of new products has a head start on safety clarification.” This is precisely why it is so important to identify these by-products and degradation products in order to be able to deal with them better.
In the case of plastic oligomers, it has often not been technically possible to detect them. That's why Odermatt's team is working closely with the Computational Pharmacy group at the department to carry out computer simulations before they can start in vitro tests.
Clarify impact on health
“With our project we are still at the very beginning of the question of how oligomeric substances work,” says Odermatt. Until now, it was assumed that these behaved in the same way as monomers. “The assumption was: Because they are larger molecules, they probably have a harder time getting into the human body or are quickly broken down into their monomers in the body - but this has not yet been proven.”
In the medium term, the goal is clear: “Plastics containing substances that are harmful to health may no longer be used,” says Odermatt. Precisely because many of them accumulate in the body or could reinforce each other. The researchers also receive support for their work from the manufacturers of these materials: “The industry is also striving for reusable or biodegradable products,” says Odermatt.
Meanwhile, the new FCCmigex database continues to collect information about chemicals that come into contact with food. Various chemicals have been detected in plastics so far in 1976, as the researchers write in an article in the magazine “Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition”.
This might also be of interest: The tricks of the diet industry in a fact check
Source: German health portal
Original publication
Birgit Geueke et al.
Systematic Evidence on migrating and extractable Food Contact Chemicals: Most Chemicals detected in Food Contact Materials are not listed for Use
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (2022); doi: 10.1080/10408398.2022.2067828
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