dered a very good list that food companies look at and consider in terms of behavior
of these materials in the environment.
Emerging regulatory issues. Among the emerging regulatory issues of which the
food industry should be aware, the top three are children’s health, endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and nanotechnology.
Children’s Health: Early-Life Susceptibility Assessments. The implications of children’s sensitivities to chemicals has been the elephant in the room for many years.
Early life susceptibility studies have shown changes in sensitivities to chemicals
depending on age. Although several industries have attempted to prepare for any
potential implications of this, it has yet to hit on a large scale. However, it is suggest-
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ed that companies continue to watch
for developments in this area to see if it
will drive any product design or product
substitutions.
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
(EDCs). EPA has targeted 87,000 chemicals to screen and test for EDCs—a
number that affects virtually every manufacturing industry. Five years ago,
many scientists predicted that detection
of EDCs in food and water would force
companies to pull thousands of products from the market. However, a high
potential for false positives during
screening limited the ability to effect
future regulations. For now, the issue of
EDCs is a sleeping giant. As more
becomes known about the sources,
routes and health implications of
EDCs, there remains the possibility of
the development of future regulations.
In the meantime, it is recommended
that industry work to find alternative
chemicals or products where possible as
a risk reduction measure.
Nanomaterials. Nanotechnology has
generated significant press and discussions about its potential benefits in
many consumer product applications
but there are still many unknowns in
terms of the risks that nanomaterials
may pose in the long-term.
Nanomaterials are novel materials created by engineering on the atomic level
that are <100 nm in size (in comparison
to a human hair, which is ~80,000 nm),
which possess unique properties based
on quantum physics and large surface
area. Although nanomaterials are often
discussed as though they are a single
material, materials on the nanoscale
actually comprise or refer to a type of
technology that can be used in many
applications. As such, the technology
will have not only different environmental implications but also different
processing and human health implications depending on the applications and
what kind of chemicals are used on the
nanoscale.
Potential hazards from nanotechnology application involve reactivity (i.e.,
potential issues with how it behaves
both in terms of chemical interactions
with other materials or chemicals and
how it moves in the environment
