The plastic wrap used on cucumbers was found to contain phthalates. J Rosello/iStockphoto/Getty Images Hide caption
Toggle caption J Rosello/iStockphoto/Getty Images
Thousands of chemicals used in food packaging and production leach into the food itself.
“the [from] “Everything is contaminated: soda cans, plastic cookware, Teflon-coated frying pans, the cardboard boxes your french fries come in,” says Jane Mahnke, a Zurich-based toxicologist. “It’s not just retail food packaging, it’s processing equipment and [kitchenware] It can also be used for household dishes.”
More than 3,600 chemicals found in food packaging are also present in the human body, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology led by Manke and colleagues at the Food Packaging Forum Foundation, a nonprofit research group that focuses on hazardous chemicals in food packaging.
The paper combined data from other public sources that showed the presence of certain chemicals in the human body in blood, urine and breast milk samples. Of the 3,600 chemicals found in food packaging and in the human body, about 80 have been found to pose “high concern” to human health, the researchers said.
Heat and time accelerate leaching
Many of the chemicals used in food packaging are also used in plastics, which are also used in clothing, furniture and personal care products, but food packaging is of particular concern because it can contaminate what people eat, Mahnke said.
Food packaging can have chemical reactions with food. If you’ve ever stored tomato sauce in a plastic container and noticed a reddish residue inside the container that can’t be washed off, you may have noticed this phenomenon. “This is because the molecules that give the sauce its red color have diffused into the plastic,” Mahnke says. “The reverse can also happen, and chemicals from the plastic can diffuse into the food.”
Leaching of chemicals can be hastened by heat, time, whether the food is acidic or fatty, or the amount of food in contact with the container.
High Concern for Some Chemicals
Many of the 3,600 chemicals have not been thoroughly studied for their health effects.
But there are some chemicals that are known to be linked to health problems: The study found that the list includes about 80 chemicals of “high concern” that have been linked to conditions including certain cancers, developmental disorders, heart disease and metabolic disorders.
“I think there’s pretty strong evidence to suggest that chemicals like phthalates, bisphenols and metals have adverse health effects,” says Dr. Robert Sargis, an endocrinologist at the University of Illinois who was not involved in the study but has collaborated with Dr. Mahnke on other studies.
For example, phthalates are known endocrine disruptors, meaning they can affect hormones in the body, and are used to make plastics flexible yet durable, such as the clear plastic wrap that grocery stores use to wrap cucumbers.
These chemicals can be difficult for shoppers to spot and avoid: “The reality is, we don’t know where these things are, and we’re not 100% sure how we’re being exposed to them,” Sargis says.
The chemicals begin to leave the body within a few days.
The effects of these chemicals can accumulate over time and contribute to chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes and heart disease, says Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a pediatrician and director of the Center for Environmental Hazards Investigations at NYU Langone Health, who collaborates with Mahnke and Sargis in the area of health and plastics research but was not involved in the study.
In a study published earlier this year, Trasande and his colleagues estimated that health problems linked to exposure to toxic chemicals in plastics cost the economy $250 billion a year. Their analysis included both direct medical costs and indirect costs, such as lost productivity due to disability. “We [look into] “Food packaging is part of it, but it’s probably a big driver,” Trasande said.
Trasande says reducing chemical intake can improve some of the health effects. Chemicals like BPA and phthalates begin to be flushed from the body within days of stopping exposure, he says. “Continuing these interventions can change hormone levels within weeks and disease symptoms within months,” he says.
Trasande recommends not microwaving or washing plastic food containers, as stainless steel and glass are less likely to react with food, he said.
The researchers say regulators could do more to help by mandating better labeling of chemicals on food packaging, which would help consumers make better choices. Restricting chemicals with known hazards in food production and packaging would also help. “We need to get out of this maze of focusing on plastic bags as a way to reduce plastic exposure,” Trasande says. “We need to think about food packaging.”
The Foodservice Packaging Association and the Plastics Industry Association did not respond to requests for comment.
In testimony submitted to a congressional hearing on September 10, Jim Jones, deputy commissioner for human foods at the Food and Drug Administration, said, “The food industry is responsible for ensuring the safety of chemicals they use in food, including food packaging and other food contact materials, and FDA’s ability to evaluate the safety of these ingredients in the food supply depends on and is limited by the availability of this safety data.” Still, he acknowledged, “Congress, state legislatures, and stakeholders have made it clear that chemical safety is a priority that we must address.”
The FDA will hold a public meeting on September 25 to discuss how to improve its oversight of chemicals in food, including food packaging.
