All food contact chemicals in FCCmigex were investigated either for their presence in food contact materials, or for their propensity to transfer into food under real-world conditions, thus making human exposure to these chemicals highly probable. Importantly, only 28 percent of the FCCs that were detected in these studies were previously known to be used in the manufacture of food contact materials. Of all the materials investigated, 63 percent of the studies were on plastics with 3,696 different chemicals detected.

New features of the FCCmigex dashboard include geographical data pinpointing where tested food contact articles were purchased, the addition of a filter for study publication year, improved filters for distinguishing between recycled and primary plastic content, and the addition of regenerated cellulose as a new category of food contact material.

Key findings from FCCmigex Version 3 related to food contact chemicals with known toxic effects for humans include:

• PFAS: 29 of the 188 new studies report the detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), adding 62 newly identified PFAS to the 68 previously documented in food contact materials
• Phthalates: 44 of the new studies detected phthalates di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and/or diethyl phthalate (DEP), mostly related to plastic food contact materials
• 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol: The chemical with the highest number of new database entries was 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol, indicating potential human exposure from synthetic antioxidants used in plastics.

Additionally, according to the Food Packaging Forum, a notable trend in recent studies is the shift toward untargeted chemical analyses. These approaches aim at covering all chemicals that can potentially be transferred from packaging into food and may provide deeper insights into chemical mixtures migrating from packaging into food.

On a related note, the Food Packaging Forum’s Database on Food Contact Chemicals Monitored in Humans (FCChumon), published in September 2024, compiles data on food contact chemicals that has been specifically detected in human samples, in part drawing from FCCmigex data. FCChumon identified more than 1,800 food contact chemicals known to migrate from food contact materials, many of which are understood to be hazardous or have not been tested for toxicity at all. For more 25 percent of the 3,601 total identified food contact chemicals included in FCChumon, the literature showed evidence of their presence in humans (e.g., in urine, blood, and breast milk samples), including 194 chemicals from biomonitoring programs, with 80 of these having hazard properties of high concern.