Dangerous Legacy of Food Contact Materials on the EU Market: Recall of Products Containing PFAS

Toxic substances and endocrine disruptors are present in consumer goods on the European Union (EU) market, such as in food contact materials like cookware. This article investigates whether a legal recall obligation of such products exists in EU law, and in the absence of such an obligation, how the...

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Main Authors: Carme Ribes Ortega, Alexandra Molitorisová, Kai Purnhagen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2025-06-01
Series:European Journal of Risk Regulation
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Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1867299X2400045X/type/journal_article
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author Carme Ribes Ortega
Alexandra Molitorisová
Kai Purnhagen
author_facet Carme Ribes Ortega
Alexandra Molitorisová
Kai Purnhagen
author_sort Carme Ribes Ortega
collection DOAJ
description Toxic substances and endocrine disruptors are present in consumer goods on the European Union (EU) market, such as in food contact materials like cookware. This article investigates whether a legal recall obligation of such products exists in EU law, and in the absence of such an obligation, how the EU legislature has ensured that such products are disposed of in a manner that does not compromise human health and the environment when they become waste. For this purpose, this Article analyses recall obligations for food contact materials containing persistent organic pollutants, as well as their waste regulations. It focuses on a class of substances with non-stick properties, some of them formerly used in cookware, such as pentadecafluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). We show that there is no single legal recall obligation; rather, many legal obligations are scattered among different provisions of EU law. When read together, they form a complex web of obligations, which may lead to recall measures for most of these products. However, doubts over the feasibility and effectiveness of such recalls remain.
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publishDate 2025-06-01
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spelling doaj-art-c2de9e321f7f4de18d3684baba149f9d2025-08-20T13:03:09ZengCambridge University PressEuropean Journal of Risk Regulation1867-299X2190-82492025-06-011654256510.1017/err.2024.45Dangerous Legacy of Food Contact Materials on the EU Market: Recall of Products Containing PFASCarme Ribes Ortega0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1364-2729Alexandra Molitorisová1Kai Purnhagen2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9902-7347Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, GermanyUniversity of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, GermanyUniversity of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, GermanyToxic substances and endocrine disruptors are present in consumer goods on the European Union (EU) market, such as in food contact materials like cookware. This article investigates whether a legal recall obligation of such products exists in EU law, and in the absence of such an obligation, how the EU legislature has ensured that such products are disposed of in a manner that does not compromise human health and the environment when they become waste. For this purpose, this Article analyses recall obligations for food contact materials containing persistent organic pollutants, as well as their waste regulations. It focuses on a class of substances with non-stick properties, some of them formerly used in cookware, such as pentadecafluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). We show that there is no single legal recall obligation; rather, many legal obligations are scattered among different provisions of EU law. When read together, they form a complex web of obligations, which may lead to recall measures for most of these products. However, doubts over the feasibility and effectiveness of such recalls remain.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1867299X2400045X/type/journal_articledisposalendocrine disruptorsfood contact materialshazardous wasteliabilityper- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)persistent organic pollutantsrecalltraceability
spellingShingle Carme Ribes Ortega
Alexandra Molitorisová
Kai Purnhagen
Dangerous Legacy of Food Contact Materials on the EU Market: Recall of Products Containing PFAS
European Journal of Risk Regulation
disposal
endocrine disruptors
food contact materials
hazardous waste
liability
per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
persistent organic pollutants
recall
traceability
title Dangerous Legacy of Food Contact Materials on the EU Market: Recall of Products Containing PFAS
title_full Dangerous Legacy of Food Contact Materials on the EU Market: Recall of Products Containing PFAS
title_fullStr Dangerous Legacy of Food Contact Materials on the EU Market: Recall of Products Containing PFAS
title_full_unstemmed Dangerous Legacy of Food Contact Materials on the EU Market: Recall of Products Containing PFAS
title_short Dangerous Legacy of Food Contact Materials on the EU Market: Recall of Products Containing PFAS
title_sort dangerous legacy of food contact materials on the eu market recall of products containing pfas
topic disposal
endocrine disruptors
food contact materials
hazardous waste
liability
per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
persistent organic pollutants
recall
traceability
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1867299X2400045X/type/journal_article
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