Safety evaluation of food contact paper and board using chemical tests and in vitro bioassays: role of known and unknown substances.

In vitro toxicological tests have been proposed as an approach to complement the chemical safety assessment of food contact materials, particularly those with a complex or unknown chemical composition such as paper and board. Among the concerns raised regarding the applicability of in vitro tests are the effects of interference of the extractables on the outcome of the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity tests applied and the role of known compounds present in chemically complex materials, such as paper and board, either as constituents or contaminants. To answer these questions, a series of experiments were performed to assess the role of natural substances (wood extracts, resin acids), some additives (diisopropylnaphthalene, phthalates, acrylamide, fluorescent whitening agents) and contaminants (2,4-diaminotoluene, benzo[a]pyrene) in the toxicological profile of paper and board. These substances were individually tested or used to spike actual paper and board extracts. The toxic concentrations of diisopropylnaphthalenes and phthalates were compared with those actually detected in paper and board extracts showing conspicuous toxicity. According to the results of the spiking experiments, the extracts did not affect the toxicity of tested chemicals nor was there any significant metabolic interference in the cases where two compounds were used in tests involving xenobiotic metabolism by the target cells. While the identified substances apparently have a role in the cytotoxicity of some of the project samples, their presence does not explain the total toxicological profile of the extracts. In conclusion, in vitro toxicological testing can have a role in the safety assessment of chemically complex materials in detecting potentially harmful activities not predictable by chemical analysis alone.

Test procedures for obtaining representative extracts suitable for reliable in vitro toxicity assessment of paper and board intended for food contact.

This paper describes the use of a suite of extraction procedures applicable to the assessment of the in vitro toxicity of paper/board samples intended for food-contact applications. The sample is extracted with ethanol, water, or exposed to modified polyphenylene oxide (Tenax) for fatty, non-fatty and dry food applications, respectively. The water extracts are directly suitable for safety assessment using in vitro bioassays. The ethanol extracts of the paper/board and of the exposed Tenax require pre-concentration to give acceptable sensitivity. This is because the in vitro bioassays can tolerate only a small percentage of added organic solvent before the solvent itself inhibits. The extraction procedures have been selected such that they mimic the foreseeable conditions of use with foods and that they are also fully compatible with the battery of in vitro biological assays for the safety assessment of the total migrate. The application of the extraction protocols is illustrated by the results for one of the many paper/board samples provided by the BIOSAFEPAPER project industrial platform members. The assessment indicated that this sample should not be considered as suitable for use with fatty foodstuffs but was suitable for dry and non-fatty foods. Information subsequently received from the manufacturer revealed that this was a non-food-grade product included in the project to test the capabilities of the bioassay procedures. The selection criteria for the test conditions and the suite of methods developed have been prepared in Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN) format and is currently being progressed by CEN/TC172 as a European Standard.

The BIOSAFEPAPER project for in vitro toxicity assessments: preparation, detailed chemical characterisation and testing of extracts from paper and board samples.

Nineteen food contact papers and boards and one non-food contact board were extracted following test protocols developed within European Union funded project BIOSAFEPAPER. The extraction media were either hot or cold water, 95% ethanol or Tenax, according to the end use of the sample. The extractable dry matter content of the samples varied from 1200 to 11,800 mg/kg (0.8-35.5 mg/dm2). According to GC-MS the main substances extracted into water were pulp-derived natural products such as fatty acids, resin acids, natural wood sterols and alkanols. Substances extracted into ethanol particularly, were diisopropylnaphthalenes, alkanes and phthalic acid esters. The non-food contact board showed the greatest number and highest concentrations of GC-MS detectable compounds. The extracts were subjected to a battery of in vitro toxicity tests measuring both acute and sublethal cytotoxicity and genotoxic effects. None of the water or Tenax extracts was positive in cytotoxicity or genotoxicity assays. The ethanol extract of the non-food contact board gave a positive response in the genotoxicity assays, and all four ethanol extracts gave positive response(s) in the cytotoxicity assays to some extent. These responses could not be pinpointed to any specific compound, although there appeared a correlation between the total amount of extractables and toxicity.

Safety assessment of food-contact paper and board using a battery of short-term toxicity tests: European union BIOSAFEPAPER project.

An European Union (EU)-funded project QLK1-CT-2001-00930 (BIOSAFEPAPER) involves the development, validation and intercalibration of a short-term battery of toxicological tests for the safety assessment of food-contact paper and board. Dissemination of the results to industry, legislators (e.g. DG Consumer Protection, DG Enterprises, DG Research), standardization bodies such as CEN, and consumers will create an agreed risk evaluation procedure. The project involves pre-normative research in order to establish a set of in-vitro cytotoxicity and genotoxicity tests that will be easily adaptable to food-contact fibre-based materials and have endpoints relevant to consumer safety, including sub-lethal cellular events. These tests will be performed on samples representing actual migration conditions from food-contact paper and board with respect to different foodstuffs, and should form an experimental basis for scientifically sound recommendations for a harmonized system of risk evaluation and product testing.

Biochemical responses in aquatic plants as markers of environmental contamination.

This short review gives several examples of the current status of xenobiotic biotransformation reactions and oxidative stress responses in plants as biomarkers of organic pollution in aquatic environments. Based on previous basic knowledge, several biomonitoring programmes have been applied successfully during the last decade.