Daikin is committed to protecting health, safety and the environment.
Daikin has never manufactured or sold a product based on long chain technology for food contact customers in the US or Europe. Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the German Institute for Risk Assessment (the BfR) for use in the European Union have accepted our short-chain paper treatment products for the food contact market following extensive evaluation of test data and scientific information. FDA acceptance is based on the standard safe for intended use.
Regarding the Silent Springs Institute [or Schaider] study, it is not a surprise that the authors found fluorine in their tests since several short-chained products have been accepted by FDA for use on food packaging. The long chain findings are likely due to the fact that samples were collected in 2014 and 2015, before FDA completed its phase-out of long chain products in these applications in 2016.
Despite the claims of the study’s authors, the data collected are insufficient to establish that monitoring products for fluorine (through the PIGE method) is a reliable method to measure for PFAS in food packaging, particularly given the fact that multiple samples showed high levels of fluorine but low levels of PFAS. In addition, as noted above, the data do not reflect current market conditions after FDA’s 2016 phase-out of long-chain products in food packaging.
We support all efforts to eliminate the presence of long-chain chemicals in food packaging and other applications, including full implementation and enforcement of the current FDA regulations, and any further regulatory restrictions on the use of long chain based products.