§ 177.1615 Polyethylene, fluorinated.

Fluorinated polyethylene, identified in paragraph (a) of this section, may be safely used as food-contact articles in accordance with the following prescribed conditions: (a) Fluorinated polyethylene food-contact articles are produced by modifying the surface of polyethylene articles through action of fluorine gas in combination with gaseous nitrogen as an inert diluent. Such modification affects only the surface of the polymer, leaving the interior unchanged. Fluorinated polyethylene articles are manufactured from basic resins containing not less than 85 weight-percent of polymer units derived from ethylene and identified in § 177.1520 (a)(2) and (3)(i). (b) Fluorinated polyethylene articles conform to the specifications and use limitations of § 177.1520(c), items 2.1 and 3.1. (c) The finished food-contact article, when extracted with the solvent or solvents characterizing the type of food and under conditions of time and temperature characterizing the conditions of its intended use as determined from tables 1 and 2 of § 176.170(c) of this chapter, yields fluoride ion not to exceed 5 parts per million calculated on the basis of the volume of food held by the food-contact article.