Green Analytical Workflows: Recent Advances in Sample Preparation and Instrumental Analysis of Food Contact Materials

Abstract

Food contact materials (FCMs) represent a major route of exposure to chemicals since they can migrate from packaging into food, raising health concerns. Due to its heterogeneous nature and complexity, the monitoring of chemicals present in or released by FCMs poses a significant analytical challenge, requiring both target methods for the quantitative determination of both intentionally and non-intentionally added substances (IAS and NIAS) and untargeted approaches to fingerprint the material and identify previously unknown IAS and NIAS. In recent years, green analytical chemistry has become fundamental for method development, promoting safer, faster and more sustainable workflows with reduced solvent consumption, waste generation and environmental impact. This review discusses recent advances in green analytical workflows for FCM characterization, with emphasis on sample preparation and instrumental analysis, covering the state of the art from 2020 to 2026.