"We want other manufacturers to take this and join us to eliminate the PFAS" from food packaging.
https://www.ehn.org/pfas-free-food-packaging-2654648607/pfas-health-effects
A set of PFAS-free packaging from Zume. (Credit: Zume)
While
the companies—Zume and Solenis—are not the first to design a grease-resistant,
PFAS-free food container, this is the first time that manufacturers have
open-sourced such packaging technology.
"Open
sourcing our PFAS-free solution creates a path for brands across the world to
remove plastics and harmful chemicals from their consumer packaging and
single-use goods," said Zume CEO and Chairman Alex Garden in a prepared
statement, adding that this will allow fast food companies to "deliver on their
promises" to remove PFAS from food packaging.
The
announcement comes as companies and government agencies alike scramble to
remove the toxic chemicals from food containers as evidence mounts that PFAS can leach from packaging,
contaminating the products inside.
PFAS-free packaging
PFAS, an acronym for "perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances," are commonly used to coat food packaging to make it grease- and water-resistant. A 2017 study found that 46% of paper food wrappers sampled contained PFAS. Dubbed "forever chemicals" because of their persistence in humans and the environment, PFAS exposure has been linked to liver and kidney cancer, lower infant birth weights, immune system impacts, higher cholesterol and other negative health effects.
In
2016, the FDA banned manufacturers from
using long-chained PFAS in food packaging. After finding that a short-chain
member of the PFAS family also lingered in humans after eating food
contaminated with the compound, 6:2 FTOH, the FDA and manufacturers announced
last year that they would phase out use of that compound as a food container
coating. Certain countries, like Denmark, have recently banned all PFAS
from food packaging.
Pam
Horine, Vice President of Product Research and Compliance for food packaging
company Zume, told EHN that restaurants were regularly asking the
California-based manufacturer for a PFAS-free food container. Those inquiries
coupled with the manufacturer phase-out led Zume to look into making a molded
fiber container without fluorinated chemicals or plastics.
Over
the course of nine months, Zume and chemical manufacturer Solenis worked on
designing a new container. They came up with a formula that includes adjusting
the fiber blend and structure to ensure that water would run off it easily,
applying a specific blend of water-repellent chemicals to the fiber slurry, and
molding the products at a high pressure. The latter is "key to compacting
and getting this really dense, robust structure to prevent the oil and grease
from migrating through," said Horine.
The
team decided to open source their formula, she said, because Zume and partners
don't have adequate manufacturing facilities to rapidly meet the demand for
PFAS-free packaging and cut back on single-use plastics in the industry writ
large. "We want other manufacturers to take this and join us to eliminate
the PFAS" from food packaging, said Horine.
The containers are designed to break down in commercial composters in three months.
PFAS
health effects
Dr.
Rainer Lohmann, a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island
who researches PFAS contamination, told EHN that the ubiquitous presence of
PFAS detected in Americans' bodies makes it clear that we're not just exposed
to the chemicals from military or industrial contamination sites.
While
researchers are still figuring out how exactly our everyday activities and
products expose us to PFAS, food packaging seems a likely culprit. "It's
one of the few which offers a direct pathway for transfer into food items that
we then consume," Lohmann said.
Past
industry efforts to develop safer alternatives to dangerous chemicals used in
packaging have at times resulted in an unfortunate realization: the substitute is also hazardous.
When asked about the safety of the new PFAS-free food container, a spokesperson
for Solenis said that its components have been thoroughly tested by the company
for safety. And all products used in it follow U.S., European and Chinese food
contact recommendations and standards.
Lohmann
said that a product complying with U.S. standards does not guarantee its
safety, noting that certain PFAS compounds are still allowed in commerce
despite health concerns. But the compounds used in the new products, Lohmann
said, did not appear on first glance to contain any chemicals of concern, like
fluorine or chlorine, or any other red flags.
And "free of PFAS is certainly better than with PFAS," he added.