The harm of PVC materials to the human body

Experts from national authoritative institutions said that harmful substances in PVC plastic wrap are more harmful to the human body. At present, the three major brands of LG, Mitsubishi and Sanei account for nearly 80% of the domestic market share

Our reporter Li Xiuzhong came from Shanghai

Due to being banned in their own countries, Japanese and Korean polyvinyl chloride ( PVC) food cling film has entered China in a big way.

According to experts, PVC food cling film is relatively harmful to the human body. Harmful substances in this kind of cling film are easy to precipitate. After entering the human body with food, they have carcinogenic effects on the human body, especially interfering with the human body. Endocrine causes breast cancer in women, congenital defects in newborns, reproductive disorders in men and even mental illness.

Currently, most of the household food wraps sold in my country’s domestic market are produced using safe polyethylene (PE) and polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) materials. However, some supermarket fresh products such as vegetables, fruits and cooked food packaging use a large amount of PVC plastic wrap. More than 80% of these products come from Japan and South Korea.

It is more harmful to the human body

Dong Jinshi, deputy director of the China Packaging Resources Comprehensive Utilization Committee, told the "First Financial Daily" yesterday that compared with PE and PVDC products, PVC cling film has better transparency , not easy to break, and has good stickiness. He said that using PVC food cling film, one person can wrap more than 20 items of goods in one minute, and at the same time, it can also be packaged by machine. This is the reason why supermarkets are willing to use PVC cling film in large quantities.

However, the advantages of PVC food plastic wrap are based on its harm to humans.

"Polyvinyl chloride contains chlorine, which is toxic. There are two main aspects of PVC food cling film that cause harm to people: high content of vinyl chloride monomer, which will volatilize; The main component of plasticizer is ethylhexylamine (DEHA). This substance is easily precipitated and brought into the human body with food, causing carcinogens to the human body, especially causing endocrine and hormonal disorders, so it causes relatively great harm to the human body. ." Weng Yunxuan, director of the National Plastic Products Supervision and Inspection Center, told reporters.

The National Plastic Products Quality Supervision and Inspection Center where Weng Yunxuan works has obtained metrological certification, review recognition and authorization from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. It has legal authority and third-party impartiality. It is the first plastic product performance inspection center the highest technical institution.

In fact, PVC is a hard plastic. To stretch it into a transparent and soft plastic wrap, a large amount of plasticizer must be added. DEHA is a substance added to synthetic resin materials to increase the flexibility and elasticity of products. The content in PVC cling film is about 40 to 50%.

These plasticizers will slowly seep out. Weng Yunxuan said that when PVC plastic wrap meets the oil of cooked food, the plasticizer in it is more likely to be released and penetrate into the food.

Yu Hongliang, an engineer at the Shanghai Plastic Products Quality Supervision and Inspection Station, also said that DEHA can interfere with human endocrine after consumption, causing breast cancer in women, congenital defects in newborns, reduced sperm count in men, and even mental illness.

It is precisely because of the serious harm that Europe banned the use of PVC as food packaging materials a few years ago. Japan also eliminated PVC food packaging in 2000. According to the announcement by the World Packaging Organization Council, the United States, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and European countries have now completely banned the use of PVC packaging materials.

However, this kind of "poisonous" food plastic wrap has become very popular in China in recent years.

A large number of supermarkets use it

"The existence of PVC food cling film in China began in 1995, and it is mainly used in supermarkets and hotels." Liu Jingsheng, manager of Beijing Guoqing Integrity Technology Co., Ltd. Tell reporters.

Liu Jingsheng has been an agent for sales of Japanese high-end PVC food wraps such as Mitsui and Mitsubishi since 1995. He claims to be the first person to make PVC food wraps in China. He told reporters that in 1995, the national consumption of PVC food cling film was only a few tons, but now the annual consumption has exceeded 15,000 tons.

The reporter visited some large supermarkets in Shanghai and found that most of the small packages of vegetables, fruits, meat and cooked food in the fresh food section use PVC plastic wrap. At the Century Lianhua Changshou Road store, the reporter saw a large roll of PVC cling film in the meat section. All meat sold was packed in PVC cling film without exception.

Dong Jinshi said that at present, the domestic PVC cling film brands are mainly LG, Mitsubishi and Sanei. The three major brands account for 70~80% of the entire market, while Japanese and Korean products account for more than 80% of the entire market.

“Nowadays, domestic PVC food cling film is almost all products from Japan and South Korea, as well as products from Taiwanese companies in my country.” Dong Jinshi told reporters.

In the domestic market, the main PVC cling film brands are Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Junshi, Nanya, Sanei, etc.

Liu Jingsheng believes that judging from sales data in recent years, the domestic demand for PVC food cling film has grown by more than 30% every year.

This has also found a way out for Japanese and Korean related companies.

Shanghai Junshi Polymer Materials Co., Ltd. is a Sino-Japanese joint venture jointly invested and established by Japan Junshi Polymer Industry Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Zhangqiao Economic Development Company.

Liu Jingsheng told reporters: "This was the first wave of replacing PVC with PE in Japan. Gun was the first company to move to my country. It was the first foreign company to invest in food cling film production in China. The company is also the first company in China to produce PVC cling film. The current annual output is about 2,000 tons. ”

It is understood that Junshi is the only company in Shanghai that produces PVC cling film. most of the market. When the reporter contacted a salesperson from Junshi Company to learn about the company’s views on the hazards of PVC food cling film, the other party said: “Whatever you think is appropriate. If you think it’s available, it’s available. If you think it’s not available, it’s not available.”

"There are relatively few imported PVC cling films now, and most of them are produced domestically." Liu Jingsheng told reporters that the current sales volume of the "Mitsui" cling film he represents is only 100 tons a year.

In October 2004, South Korea's Samyoung Group invested US$60 million to establish a wholly-owned Bo Film Packaging Products Co., Ltd. - Dalian Samyoung Chemical Co., Ltd. in Dalian, China. It mainly produces PVC cling film, BOPP packaging film, CAPACITOR capacitor film, etc. Among them, there are six production lines for PVC cling film, with a claimed annual output of 10,000 tons.

"At present, most of them are sole proprietorships, and there are very few joint ventures because there are no corresponding companies in China. At the same time, due to the high profit margin of PVC cling film, foreign companies are not willing to joint ventures." Liu Jingsheng told reporters, "The current price of PVC food cling film is 20,000 yuan/ton, and the PVC raw material is only 10,000 yuan/ton. There is a profit of at least 50%."

Liu Jingsheng introduced that at present, Japan-owned PVC cling film companies include Hangzhou NCI, Wuxi Riken and other companies, and a Korean company is also preparing to produce PVC food cling film in Beijing.

Regarding the large-scale transfer of Japanese and Korean companies to China, Dong Jinshi explained: "Japanese and Korean domestic products are banned, but the huge production scale formed by this industry is not willing to be eliminated. They have huge PVC raw materials Production companies and machinery and equipment companies have therefore moved to China."

Liu Jingsheng said: "At present, almost all the machinery and equipment for producing PVC cling film are from Japan, and Japan is the best in this industry. At present, most domestic PVC cling film companies use machinery and equipment from Fuji Heavy Industries. ”

No domestic companies produce it

“The development of foreign food cling film materials has gone through three stages, starting from partial chlorine. From ethylene to polyvinyl chloride, and then to polyethylene." Yu Hongliang told reporters that he discovered problems with PVC when he went abroad for inspection in the 1980s, so he did not introduce it. The production cost of PE cling film is low and the process is simple. Unlike PVC, which requires many kinds of additives, his research institute decided to introduce PE production technology.

He said that domestic food cling film companies basically use PE as raw materials.

The reporter learned from the Shanghai Plastics Industry Association that there are no companies in the association that use PVC for food packaging. Weng Yunxuan also told reporters. "The people who come to our center for quality inspection of PVC cling film are all foreign companies, including some domestic agency companies, and there are no domestic companies."

There are no domestic companies producing PVC cling film because of its high technical requirements. , large investment.

"Domestic PE cling film companies are all small companies and small groups, and no one has the strength to do it." Dong Jinshi said.

Liu Jingsheng told reporters that a production line plus auxiliary equipment requires more than 20 million yuan. Therefore, most of the companies currently producing PVC food cling film are affiliated to large chemical industry groups, and most of them are Japanese and Korean companies.

Yu Hongliang revealed that foreign companies’ PVC cling film can enter China smoothly because they can pass my country’s relevant health standards.

It is understood that at present, my country’s national standards for food-grade polyvinyl chloride finished products were promulgated by the Ministry of Health in 1988.

Weng Yunxuan told reporters: "Although PVC cling film is harmful, our domestic regulations do not prohibit it, nor do we clearly restrict PVC food packaging. At present, our center mainly inspects products in accordance with nationally designated standards. Those that pass the standards are considered qualified.”

He said that the current standards have lagged behind.

Yu Hongliang also said that the old standards formulated in the past have obviously failed to keep up with the times. When foreign countries propose bans or restrictions on PVC food packaging, domestic action should also be taken.

Reference:/xiaofei/consume/20051013/01462028545.shtml