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Recent reports from the USA indicate that the heavy metal limits in packaging there are being breached. Tests undertaken by the Toxics Clearinghouse (the US pressure group that lobbied for limits to heavy metals and which monitors their implementation) indicate that 14.2% of packaging is above the limits.
19 US States have adopted legislation that makes it mandatory for all packaging to comply with limits developed in the USA by CONEG (the Coalition of Northern Governors), with heavy fines or criminal penalties for producers or importers whose packaging does not comply. The heavy metals limits set in the EU by the Directive on Packaging & Packaging Waste are identical to the US ones.
The US Environmental Protection Agency provides funding to the Toxics Clearinghouse to test the heavy metal content of packaging. In the past, testing has been expensive but the development of a hand-held, instant-read X-ray Fluorescence gun ("XRF") has made the screening process much cheaper and easier. When tested, 80% of PVC bags, used to pack a range of household items such as tablecloths, were above the limit, and so were inks and colours used for paper and plastic bags. Most of the PVC packaging came from Asia (China and Pakistan). There have also been reports of retailers removing non-compliant packaging from their shelves.
Comment: Some of the packaging in the USA that is above the limits is manufactured in Asia so if this problem is occurring in the USA, then breaches of the heavy metal limits are also likely in Europe. In Europe the general perception has been that only specific categories of packaging breach the heavy metal limits, and special derogations have been agreed for them. But perhaps this perception is no longer true? Given that so much packaging in Europe is now made in third countries and now that new testing technology is available, producers and importers in Europe should undertake more rigorous checks to confirm that their packaging complies with the heavy metal limits.
8 March 2010
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