Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are used in a wide range of products of all day life. Due to their toxicological potential, an emerging focus is directed towards their exposure to humans. This study investigated the PFAS load of consumer products in a broad perspective. Perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (C₄, C₆–C₈, C₁₀-PFSA), carboxylic acids (C₄–C₁₄-PFCA) and fluorotelomer alcohols (4:2, 6:2; 8:2 and 10:2 FTOH) were analysed in 115 random samples of consumer products including textiles (outdoor materials), carpets, cleaning and impregnating agents, leather samples, baking and sandwich papers, paper baking forms and ski waxes. PFCA and PFSA were analysed by HPLC-MS/MS, whereas FTOH were detected by GC/CI-MS. Consumer products such as cleaning agents or some baking and sandwich papers show low or negligible PFSA and PFCA contents. On the other hand, high PFAS levels were identified in ski waxes (up to about 2000 μg/kg PFOA), leather samples (up to about 200 μg/kg PFBA and 120 μg/kg PFBS), outdoor textiles (up to 19 μg/m² PFOA) and some other baking papers (up to 15 μg/m² PFOA). Moreover, some test samples like carpet and leather samples and outdoor materials exceeded the EU regulatory threshold value for PFOS (1 μg/m²). A diverse mixture of PFASs can be found in consumer products for all fields of daily use in varying concentrations. This study proves the importance of screening and monitoring of consumer products for PFAS loads and the necessity for an action to regulate the use of PFASs, especially PFOA, in consumer products.

Polymer-based multilayer packaging materials are commonly used in order to combine the respective performance of different polymers. By this approach, the tailored functionality of packaging concepts is created to sufficiently protect sensitive food products and thus obtain extended shelf life. However, because of their poor recyclability, most multilayers are usually incinerated or landfilled, counteracting the efforts towards a circular economy and crude oil independency. This review depicts the current state of the European multilayer packaging market and sketches the current end-of-life situation of postconsumer multilayer packaging waste in Germany. In the main section, a general overview of the state of research about material recycling of different multilayer packaging systems is provided. It is divided into two subsections, whereby one describes methods to achieve a separation of the different components, either by delamination or the selective dissolution–reprecipitation technique, and the other describes methods to achieve recycling by compatibilization of nonmiscible polymer types. While compatibilization methods and the technique of dissolution–reprecipitation are already extensively studied, the delamination of packaging has not been investigated systematically. All the presented options are able to recycle multilayer packaging, but also have drawbacks like a limited scope or a high expenditure of energy.