Your fast food wrapping could contain potentially dangerous chemicals, study warns
Some fast food packaging could contain potentially harmful chemicals that could make their way into your meal, a new study has found.
In what has been dubbed the most comprehensive analysis of its kind to date, researchers found that fast food chain packaging contained fluorinated chemicals that could leach into the food inside.
To analyse the prevalence of highly fluorinated chemicals in fast food packaging in the United States, researchers tested more than 400 samples from 27 fast food chains throughout the country, including paper wrappers, paperboard, and drink containers.
They tested them for chemicals known as PFASs or PFCs – highly fluorinated chemicals widely used in an array of non-stick, stain-resistant, and waterproof products, including carpeting, cookware, outdoor apparel, as well as food packaging.
The team found fluorine – a marker of PFASs – in almost half of the paper wrappers like burger wrappers and pastry bags, and in 20% of paperboard samples like boxes for fries and pizza.
Exposure to some PFASs has been linked to cancer, thyroid disease, immune suppression, low birth weight and decreased fertility.
Laurel Schaider, an environmental chemist at Silent Spring Institute and the study’s lead author, said: “These chemicals have been linked with numerous health problems, so it’s concerning that people are potentially exposed to them in food. Children are especially at risk for health effects because their developing bodies are more vulnerable to toxic chemicals.”
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The research, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, found that in general the samples that were high in fluorine also contained PFASs, including one compound that US manufacturers have agreed to stop using in food packaging due to health risks.
The authors of the report said although UK manufacturers had agreed to phase out long-chain PFASs in consumer products, other countries still produce them, and many companies have been replacing them with shorter-chain PFAS compounds, some of which were detected in the study.
Co-author Arlene Blum, founder of the Green Science Policy Institute, said: “The replacement compounds are equally persistent and have not been shown to be safe for human health.
“That’s why we need to reduce the use of the entire class of highly fluorinated compounds. The good news is there are non-fluorinated alternatives available.”
The team’s findings suggested some packaging had been deliberately treated with fluorinated compounds, while in some it had come from recycled materials or other sources.