Objective
The overall shared objective of the project is to develop an innovative methodology to support companies in the Comunitat Valenciana, particularly SMEs, in identifying and assessing the risk arising from exposure to NIAS (non-intentionally added substances) generated in plastic packaging materials as a result of the processes to which they are subjected during the different operations involved in their manufacture and in food processing. Likewise, materials, semi-finished products and final articles will be characterised, with their origin being defined and toxicological risk assessments being carried out, in order to obtain a control benchmark for companies that will enable competitive growth in this field.
Among the operations that may involve stress, injection, extrusion, printing and lamination can be mentioned for the manufacture of preformed packaging and/or household articles; thermoforming and heat sealing in food packaging and processing (hot filling, pasteurisation, sterilisation); and preparation of food for consumption (microwave or conventional oven). In material recycling, decontamination processes are applied under controlled temperature, residence time and pressure conditions, together with regeneration of the polymeric material through the use of chain extenders. Both the operations and processes mentioned may be a source of generation or may be insufficient for the elimination of unknown substances. The presence of these substances must be assessed from the perspective of the risk posed to consumers as a result of exposure to them.
The aim is therefore to guarantee the safety of packaged foods or foods in contact with household materials. The level of analytical technologies and knowledge required to achieve this objective is very high, which means that companies do not have them available and must therefore rely on the support of highly specialised and qualified centres to meet this need. Finally, thanks to the results of the project, companies will have greater capacity to act on their materials and processes in order to reduce potential NIAS.
Activities
• Preliminary work: Scientific-technical and legal framework.
• Fine-tuning of analytical methodology for the identification and quantification of NIAS
• Development of methodology for the assessment of in vitro cytotoxicity and genotoxicity using cell cultures
• Analysis of the presence of NIAS
• Definition of the risk assessment methodology for packaging
• Communication and dissemination of the project
• Transfer and promotion of results
• Management and coordination
Dissemination/Transfer
The project dissemination actions were:
- Risk assessment protocol for exposure to NIAS
- We design R&D initiatives for industrial application
