Paper food packaging after PFAS

Abstract

Fluorochemicals have long been used as a treatment to make paper wraps for burgers and other foods resist grease and water. Now, several US states are banning the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in fiber-based food packaging. At the same time, health and environmental advocates are pushing restaurant and grocery chains to stop using wraps, paperboard, and fiber containers with added PFAS. Papermakers are rolling out new products to meet this demand—but what’s taking the place of PFAS is hidden behind a wall of corporate confidentiality. Third parties are stepping in with tools to examine the safety of PFAS alternatives while protecting trade secrets. In the 1960s, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, the company that popularized Teflon-brand fluoropolymer coating for nonstick pans, started looking for new markets that might benefit from the strong fluorine-carbon bonds in fluorochemicals. The company began to sell stain-resistance treatments for