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Study finds 3,601 chemicals from plastic packaging in human blood, urine and breast milk
Have you ever tried to eliminate packaging from your diet? I have. Its hard, but mostly doable, depending on where you live and the amount of time at your disposal.
My reasons for trying to live packaging-free were mostly related to environmental concerns. Single-use plastics wont go away until we stop using them, and once you take stock of how much packaging a household produces, it’s hard to unsee it. However, evidence of a health-based rejection of plastic packaging appears to be growing. Thousands of food contact chemicals find their way into human bodies. According to a recent study, a small but significant portion of these chemicals have hazard properties of high concern.
3,600 chemicals approved for food packaging found in human bodies
Food contact chemicals, or FCCs, are chemicals found on food packaging, kitchenware, tableware, and food processing equipment. They can migrate onto, or into, food, from which theyre likely to enter our bodies.
Out of more than 14,000 such chemicals, researchers found evidence of more than 3,600 in humans.
They tested blood, urine, hair, and breast milk from people of a wide range of ages, genders, and ethnicities. Many of the chemicals they detected in the human samples are toxic to reproduction or otherwise deemed hazardous for human health.
However, most of the chemicals they found have not been extensively studied for their effects on humans. The Guardian describes them as having very limited public toxicological profiles, meaning we dont know exactly how toxic they are.
These include stabilizers and preservatives. The researchers talk about trying to close the knowledge gaps in the field of food contact chemicals and their toxicity levels.
Specific risks of FCCs include being carcinogenic or damaging to DNA
The concerns scientists have when monitoring chemicals used in food packaging relate to them being potentially carcinogenic, mutagenic, and reprotoxic.
If something is carcinogenic, it is capable of causing cancer. Carcinogens occur in the natural environment UV rays from the sun are capable of causing skin cancer. Many are made by us, including cigarette smoke and exhaust fumes.
A mutagenic chemical can make genes mutate. Many mutagenic substances are also carcinogenic. This is because genetic mutations often cause cancer in cells.
Reprotoxicity refers to a substances ability to harm human reproduction. Reprotoxic substances can damage fertility in both men and women, cause defects in a fetus, and have negative effects on breast milk, among other things.
Generally speaking, consumers can protect themselves against the potential hazards of plastic packaging by avoiding it. Three ways we can limit our exposure to toxic chemicals are:
- Buy things in glass jars or tin cans.
- Shop at wet markets or greengrocers rather than supermarkets.
- Transfer things from plastic packaging into jars when you get home.
However, as one of the studys co-authors told The Guardian, you cannot completely avoid [the chemicals]. Better regulation is the best solution, she added.
- ON THE OTHER HAND: Using 100% recyclable glass bottles is making global warming worse
