われわれの生活や文化に彩りを与える色材としてのオフセットインキにおける環境対応については，従来の安全衛生面主体から地球規模での環境保護・資源保護重視へとさらなる対応を求められるようになってきている。このような背景の下，環境負荷低減に向け各種環境ガイドラインに適合した環境対応インキとして，アロマフリーインキ，植物油（大豆油）インキ，Non-VOCインキが開発されてきている。とりわけ，天然物由来素材である植物油は，地球環境保全的側面からVOC･CO₂削減や枯渇資源保護に関してきわめて有用な素材であり，さらに廃植物油を回収・精製した再生植物油は，地産地消で循環型社会を実現する数少ない素材である。ここでは，オフセット印刷業界を取り巻く環境の変化に対応した環境調和型インキの進化・真価について解説する。

In several situations, people have called for safety and trustworthiness. In particular, interest in food safety has been increasing as consumers have been paying more attention to the subject. As such, “food safety” is now one of the most important topics worldwide. Food containers and packages (paper cartons, cosmetic boxes, corrugated cardboard, plastic trays, retort pouches, plastic bottles, cans, glass jars, bottles, etc.), which are closely related to foods, serve to attract consumers and maintain food quality. Under these circumstances, the amended Food Sanitation Act came into effect in Japan on June 1, 2020. Specifically, the “introduction of the PL (Positive List) system, which allows only substances whose safety has been evaluated to be used in food containers and packaging,” was established. In the past, there were no clear national regulations (as rules were set by the voluntary regulations of industry associations and companies), whereas now the rules have been clearly defined. This article summarizes the topics of each region's regulations on printing inks that are coloring food packaging materials and attracting attention. Furthermore, the article reports the efforts of printing ink manufacturers in response to the amended Food Sanitation Act. In particular, we focus on film packaging inks that are widely used in food containers and packaging and are expected to become more common in the world.

In Japan, the Food Sanitation Act has been revised to restrict the use of chemical substances in manufacturing utensils, containers, and packaging (in other words, the positive list system). This article will introduce the safety tests required with the start of the positive list system, as well as the safety confirmation tests required by the Food Sanitation Act. In addition, it will introduce the safety confirmation test in Europe and the US (where the positive list system was adopted prior to Japan), and the safety test of printing ink for containers and packaging. In the safety test, a food simulant is selected according to the type of food with which the utensils, containers, or packaging come into contact, and the test conditions are determined by considering the environment in use (contact temperature and storage period). Subsequently, the contaminants in the simulant were measured. If you use chemicals that are not on the positive list, you need a test to determine whether they are genotoxic, carcinogenic, or mutagenic.

In Japan, the Act partially amending the Food Sanitation Act was enforced on June 1, 2020, and the Positive List (PL) system of Resin was promulgated by the government. However, more than one to two years are needed to complete the PL, meaning that the discussion on Printing Ink will continue to be a theme in the future. As the EU is also discussing the regulation of printing ink, the Japanese Act must develop in line with this.

近年の国内印刷市場は，スマートフォンなどの普及によるメディアの多様化により縮小傾向にある。その中，紫外線を照射して瞬時に乾燥し，強靭な耐性の特徴をもつUV硬化型インキは，さまざまな用途で拡大している。さらに省電力化やCO₂削減などの環境対応への取り組みとして，紫外線発光ダイオード（LED-UV）やオゾンレス型UVランプとこれらの光源で硬化するインキ（LED硬化型インキ，UV硬化型高感度インキ）を組み合わせたシステムの拡大が進み，情報系を中心とした薄紙領域においては，従来の油性からの置換が盛んに行われるようになってきた。昨年行われたDrupa2016においても，LED-UV，高感度UVがオフセット印刷の主流になる兆しを示してきている。本稿では，高感度UVインキの基礎知識とその特徴とともに今後の展望について述べる。