Search

Background: The increasing use of plastic packaging materials generates concerns related to the environmental problem generated by their waste. As a result, the search for new recycling methodologies to extend the lifecycle of plastic packaging is becoming more important, without forgetting to ensure the safety of these materials. Currently, the use of recycled polyolefins as food contact materials is not widespread yet. This is because the decontamination processes currently available are insufficient to produce clean, safe materials suitable for such applications. This work is focused on the evaluation of the safety of recycled high-density polyethylene (rHDPE), and the search for strategies to achieve its decontamination., Results: To this end, three batches of flakes and three batches of pellets of rHDPE coming from the mechanical recycling of post-consumer milk bottles were analyzed. The analysis of the volatile and semi-volatile compounds present in the samples was carried out using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), finding a total of 67 compounds. The strategy to achieve the decontamination of flakes and pellets of this material has been based on the application of high temperature and vacuum at lab scale, obtaining a clear decrease in volatile compounds, below 50% of the initial value in most cases when applying 120 °C during 5 h. The migration test performed in the samples (treated and untreated) to different food simulants (10 % ethanol and 3 % acetic acid, 95 % ethanol) revealed also a clear decrease of concentrations of volatiles., Significance: The findings are highly encouraging, demonstrating substantial progress toward the safe and effective use of rHDPE in specific food packaging applications. This indicates a significant step forward in the potential uses of rHDPE. Nevertheless, the lack of toxicity data for many migrants necessitates additional toxicological testing to obtain a more precise risk assessment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Surgical excision biopsy remains the only reliable option in most cases of indeterminate pulmonary nodules, particularly in cancer survivors for whom surgery provides local control of pulmonary metastasis and the best chance of cure for early-stage lung cancer. Nevertheless, unnecessary surgeries remain a concern and the prognosis of newly diagnosed lung cancer might be influenced by the history of previous malignancy. We aimed to analyze the outcomes of resected indeterminate pulmonary nodules in patients with and without previous malignancy, and the impact of prior cancer history on survival and recurrence in stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients., Methods: We retrospectively studied 176 resected indeterminate pulmonary nodules from 169 patients (58% with and 42% without previous cancer). Recurrence and overall survival (OS) were analyzed in newly diagnosed stage I NSCLC using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard models., Results: The rate of benign lesions was 15.3% (9.6% in the previous cancer group and 23.6% in the no previous cancer group). In stage I NSCLC patients (n=86), previous malignancy was associated with recurrence (P<0.001) but not OS (P=0.23). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and visceral pleural invasion were associated with impaired OS and recurrence. Mediastinal lymph node removal was associated with better OS., Conclusions: The rate of benign resections among indeterminate pulmonary nodules in the no-previous cancer group more than doubled that of the previous cancer group and, in newly diagnosed stage I NSCLC patients, recurrence was independently associated with prior cancer. Therefore, in this setting, a history of previous malignancy should be taken into consideration when identifying patients at risk of tumor recurrence., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jtd.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jtd-23-1834/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 Journal of Thoracic Disease. All rights reserved.)