New EFSA mandate
EFSA has published "Part 1 of a 2-part mandate on a re-evaluation of the risks to public health related to the presence of phthalates, structurally similar substances and replacement substances from food contact materials (FCMs)" in the EFSA register of questions (Mandate Number M-2020-0183).
According to this new mandate from the European Commission, EFSA will address limitations of the work carried out in the previous mandate, which led to proposed Tolerable Daily Intakes (TDIs) for phthalates on a temporary basis (see European Plasticisers Press Release further to the publication of the EFSA final opinion).
The first task of EFSA will be to "prioritise and identify those phthalates, structurally similar substances and replacement substances based on the list in annex II to this mandate letter that warrant further data collection and insofar as they may be relevant for eventual inclusion in an assessment of the risks associated with their presence and migration from food contact materials". EFSA and ECHA are requested to work together in this first part of the mandate.
As a second step, EFSA will establish a protocol for dietary exposure assessment of the prioritised substances and hazard assessment for the prioritised substances.
Finally, EFSA should also establish a call for data on occurrence of the prioritised substances in food to support dietary exposure estimates.
European Plasticisers is ready to contribute as appropriate, by providing scientific data and any other information EFSA may require to fulfill its mandate in a thorough manner and based on a robust weight of evidence assessment of all the relevant data.