Thousands of chemicals used in food packaging and food production are leaching into food itself.
鈥淚t鈥檚 [from] your soda can, your plastic cooking utensils, your nonstick frying pan, the cardboard box that your fries come in,鈥� says Jane Muncke, a toxicologist based in Zurich. 鈥淚t鈥檚 retail food packaging, but also the processing equipment, and your [kitchenware] and tableware at home.鈥�
More than 3,600 chemicals found in are also found in human bodies, according to a in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. The research was led by Muncke and her colleagues at the , a nonprofit research group focused on hazardous chemicals in food packaging.
The paper synthesizes data from other published sources that document the presence of certain chemicals in humans from samples of blood, urine and breast milk. Of the 3,600 chemicals found in both food packaging and in humans, the researchers say about 80 are known to have 鈥渉azard properties of high concern鈥� to 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 says food packaging is a particular concern, because it can contaminate what people eat.
Food packaging can chemically react with food. You may have observed this if you鈥檝e ever stored tomato sauce in a plastic tub and seen a reddish residue in the container that doesn鈥檛 wash off. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 because the molecules, which give the sauce its red color, have diffused into the plastic,鈥� Muncke says. 鈥淭hat happens the other way around also 鈥� chemicals from your plastic can diffuse into food.鈥�
The chemical leaching can be hastened by heat, time, whether a food is acidic or fatty, or how much food is touching the container.
High concern for some chemicals
Many of the 3,600 chemicals haven鈥檛 been well-studied for health effects.
But some have known links with health problems. The study identified about 80 chemicals on the list that are of 鈥渉igh concern鈥� 鈥� linked to conditions like certain cancers, developmental disorders, heart and metabolic diseases.
鈥淐hemicals like phthalates, bisphenols, metals 鈥� I think there's pretty robust evidence to suggest that there are adverse health effects,鈥� says , an endocrinologist at the University of Illinois who was not involved with this study, though he鈥檚 worked with Muncke on others.
Phthalates, for instance, and can interfere with the body鈥檚 hormones. They鈥檙e used to make plastics flexible and durable, such as in the clear wrap on cucumbers at the grocery store.
The chemicals can be hard for shoppers to spot and avoid. 鈥淭he fact of the matter is, we don鈥檛 know where this stuff is, and we don鈥檛 know 100% how we鈥檙e getting exposed to it,鈥� Sargis says.
Chemicals can start clearing the body in days
The effects of these chemicals can accumulate over time, contributing to chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease, says , a pediatrician and director of the at NYU Langone Health. Trasande wasn鈥檛 involved with this study, though he has collaborated in the specialized field of health and plastics research with Muncke and Sargis.
In a study , Trasande and his collaborators estimate that health problems related to exposure to harmful chemicals in plastics cost the U.S. $250 billion a year. The analysis included both direct medical costs and indirect costs, such as lost productivity due to disability. 鈥淲e didn't [look into] food packaging as a subset of that, but I'm going to say that's probably a big driver,鈥� Trasande says.
It is possible to reverse some health effects by reducing chemical consumption, Trasande says. He says some of these chemicals, , can start clearing the body within days after stopping exposure. 鈥淚f you sustain those interventions, you change hormone levels in weeks, and you change your disease profile in months,鈥� he says.
Trasande recommends against microwaving or dishwashing plastic food containers. He says stainless steel and glass are less likely to react chemically with food.
Researchers say regulators could do more to help by requiring better labeling for chemicals in food packaging. That could help consumers make better choices. Restrictions on chemicals with known harms in food production and packaging would also help. 鈥淲e need to get out of the rabbit hole of focusing on plastic bags as a way to reduce plastic exposure,鈥� Trasande says. 鈥淲e need to think about food packaging.鈥�
The Foodservice Packaging Institute and the Plastic Industry Association didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment.
In testimony submitted for a on Sept. 10, Jim Jones, deputy commissioner for human foods at the Food and Drug Administration, stated: 鈥淭he food industry is responsible for ensuring the safety of the chemicals they use in foods, including food packaging and other food contact materials, and FDA鈥檚 ability to assess the safety of these ingredients in the food supply is both reliant on and limited by the availability of this safety data.鈥� Still, he recognized, 鈥淐ongress, state legislatures, and stakeholders have made clear that chemical safety is a priority we need to address.鈥�
The FDA will hold a on Sept. 25 to discuss how to improve the agency鈥檚 supervision of chemicals in food, including in food packaging.
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