Plastic packaging used on cucumbers has been found to contain phthalates.
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J Rosello/iStockphoto/Getty Images
Thousands of chemicals used in food packaging and production leach into the food itself.
“It comes from your soda can, your plastic cooking utensils, your nonstick pan, the cardboard box your French fries come in,” says Jane Muncke, a toxicologist in Zurich. “It comes from food packaging at retail, but also from processing equipment, and from your dishes and tableware at home.”
According to a paper published Tuesday in the journal Science, more than 3,600 chemicals found in food packaging are also present in the human body. Journal of Exposure Sciences and Environmental EpidemiologyThe research was conducted by Muncke and colleagues at the Food Packaging Forum Foundation, a nonprofit research group focused on hazardous chemicals in food packaging.
The study synthesizes data from other published sources that document the presence of certain chemicals in humans from blood, urine and breast milk samples. Of the 3,600 chemicals found in food packaging and in humans, the researchers say about 80 are known to have “highly concerning hazardous properties” for human health.
Heat and time accelerate leaching
Many of the chemicals in food packaging are ingredients in plastics and can be found in clothing, furniture and personal care products. But Muncke points out that food packaging is of particular concern because it can contaminate what people eat.
Food packaging can react chemically with food. You may have seen this happen if you’ve ever stored tomato sauce in a plastic container and seen a reddish residue in the container that doesn’t come off when you wash it. “That’s because the molecules that give the sauce its red color have diffused into the plastic,” Muncke says. “It also happens the other way around: Chemicals from the plastic can diffuse into the food.”
Chemical leaching can be accelerated by heat, time, the acidic or fatty nature of a food, or the amount of food in contact with the container.
High Concern for Certain Chemicals
Most of the 3,600 chemicals listed have not been adequately studied for their health effects.
But some of them have proven links to health problems. The study identified about 80 chemicals on the list that are “highly concerning” and linked to diseases such as certain cancers, developmental disorders, heart disease and metabolic disorders.
“Chemicals like phthalates, bisphenols, metals — I think there’s pretty strong evidence to suggest that they have adverse health effects,” says Dr. Robert Sargis, an endocrinologist at the University of Illinois who was not involved in this study, although he has worked with Muncke on others.
Phthalates, for example, are known to be endocrine disruptors and can interfere with the body’s hormones. They are used to make plastics soft and durable, such as in the clear packaging of cucumbers in supermarkets.
Chemicals can be difficult for consumers to spot and avoid. “The fact is, we don’t know where these chemicals are and we don’t know 100 percent how we’re being exposed to them,” Sargis says.
Chemicals can begin to be eliminated from the body within days
The effects of these chemicals can add up over time, contributing to chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease, said Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a pediatrician and director of the Center for Environmental Hazards Investigation at New York University Langone Health. Trasande was not involved in this study, although he has collaborated in the specialized field of health and plastics research with Muncke and Sargis.
In a study published earlier this year, Trasande and colleagues estimate that health problems related to exposure to harmful chemicals in plastics cost the United States $250 billion a year. The analysis looked at both direct medical costs and indirect costs, such as lost productivity due to disability. “We didn’t look at food packaging as a subset of those costs, but I would say it’s probably a significant factor,” Trasande says.
Trasande says it’s possible to reverse some health effects by reducing chemical consumption. He adds that some of these chemicals, like BPA and phthalates, can start to be eliminated from the body within days of stopping exposure. “If you keep up these interventions, you change hormone levels within weeks and you change your disease profile within months,” he says.
Trasande advises against putting plastic containers in the microwave or dishwasher. He says stainless steel and glass are less likely to chemically react with food.
The researchers say regulators could do more to help combat plastic by requiring better labeling of chemicals in food packaging. That could help consumers make better choices. Restrictions on harmful chemicals in food production and packaging would also help. “We need to get out of the plastic bag trap to reduce exposure to plastic,” Trasande says. “We need to think about food packaging.”
The Foodservice Packaging Institute and the Plastic Industry Association did not respond to requests for comment.
In testimony at a congressional hearing on September 10, Jim Jones, deputy commissioner for food at the Food and Drug Administration, said, “The food industry is responsible for the safety of the chemicals it uses in food, including food packaging and other food contact materials, and FDA’s ability to assess the safety of these ingredients in the food supply depends on and is limited by the availability of this safety data.” He acknowledged, however, that “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 the agency’s oversight of chemicals in foods, including in food packaging.
