21 Mar 2022 --- Beverage bottles produced from recycled PET (rPET) can contain higher concentrations of potentially harmful chemicals than bottles made from virgin PET. These findings originate from a Brunel University London, UK, study, which suggests that the recycling process may be contaminating bottled drinks. Specifically, the study identified 150 chemicals that had leached into drinks from their recycled plastic bottles, with 18 of those chemicals found in levels exceeding health regulations.Dr. Eleni Iacovidou, a lecturer from Brunel’s Centre for Pollution Research and Policy, who led the study, tells PackagingInsights: “Chemicals such as antimony and endocrine-disrupting compounds can cause adverse health impacts, including cancer, due to their cumulative effect.”“We found these chemicals can come from various sources, such as the catalysts and additives used during production and degradation during PET production, and degradation that can happen across a bottle’s lifecycle,” she adds.The researchers point to several factors that can result in food contact chemicals (FCCs) being present in bottled drinks, including the bottle production and the conditions under which bottles are filled, stored, distributed, and shelved, for example, exposure to high levels of sunlight or humidity.So-called FCCs are commonly found in packaged food and drink, with most considered safe in low concentrations.
