|
|
|
|
April 2009
EUROPEAN UNION
The first version of this page (posted in December 2006) outlined the intention of the European Union to replace the maze of different requirements which covered the use of carbon black in food-contact plastics in the various member states by creating an entry for it in the "monomers and additives" Directive.
The amendment was published as Directive 2002/72/EC and laid down the following purity requirements :-
- Toluene extract: < 0.1 % using ISO 6209
- UV absorption at 386 nm of cyclohexane extract: < 0.02 absorbance in a 1 cm cell or < 0.1 absorbance in a 5 cm cell using the German BfR method
- Benzo[a]pyrene content: < 250 ppb
- A maximum loading limit of 2.5 % would also apply in all cases
Transition to the new requirements will be complete at the end of April 2009 and, after this date, only material complying with the above requirements may be used in food-contact plastics in any of the 27 member states.
Cabot have decided to adopt a policy similar to that they use for FDA-compliant carbon blacks : a number of grades are being routinely tested for compliance and these will be the only ones suitable for food-contact plastics use in the EU.
For information as to which Cabot grades are subject to the new routine testing regime for food-contact use, please contact your JMB sales representative or contact us directly (details on our home-page).
USA
The use of carbon black in food-contact plastics in the USA is controlled by the FDA and authorised by 21 CFR § 178.3297. In this document, there are two entries referring to carbon black :-
A) Carbon black (channel black, prepared by the impingement process from stripped natural gas)
Such material may be used without any specific purity requirements or maximum loading restriction. Manufacture by this method is no longer economic and no supplier for such material exists.
B) High purity furnace black
Carbon black produced by this process is authorised for use in food-contact plastic applications provided :-
- total polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon content is below 0.5 ppm
- benzo[a]pyrene content is below 5 ppb
- the maximum permitted loading is 2.5 %
All batches of Cabot grades Black Pearls 4350, Black Pearls 4750 and Monarch 4750 are subject to routine testing for conformity with the FDA requirements for high purity furnace black. Further information covering such material can be supplied on request.
