"A new study groups food contact chemicals by structure, which may help policymakers more efficiently regulate them, the lead author says"
"A new study identifies the chemical groups that packaging manufacturers and regulators should target for replacement in the food system to protect human health.
More than 4,000 chemicals used in food packaging are structurally similar to chemicals known to be hazardous to human health, according to the study by researchers with the Food Packaging Forum (FPF). And 70% of those have insufficient hazard data, the researchers found.
The study was published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology (DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5c15186).
The new report organizes 15,159 food contact chemicals into 38 priority groups based on chemical structure, highlighting those groups that are most likely to be harmful to people and thus most important to replace in food packaging."
Laura Dattaro reports for Chemical & Engineering News September 3, 2026.
