A recent study revealed that over 3,600 chemicals used in food packaging and preparation have been found in the human body, with some posing potential health risks and little being known about others.
According to Birgit Geueke, the lead author and representative of the Food Packaging Forum Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Zurich, approximately 100 of these substances are categorized as having “high concern” for human health.
Some of these chemicals, such as PFAS and bisphenol A, are already well-researched and have been detected in human bodies, leading to ongoing efforts to impose bans on them.
However, there remains a significant lack of understanding regarding the health implications of various chemicals, Geueke stated in an interview with AFP, advocating for increased research into how packaging chemicals can inadvertently be ingested with food.
Previously, the researchers had identified approximately 14,000 food contact chemicals (FCCs) that have the potential to “migrate” into edibles from packaging materials like plastic, paper, glass, metal, and others. These chemicals can also originate from other stages in the food production process, including conveyor belts and kitchen utensils.
The research team then searched for these chemicals within existing biomonitoring databases, which keep track of chemicals present in human samples. The researchers anticipated discovering a few hundred FCCs, but Geueke noted they were taken aback to find a total of 3,601—which accounts for a quarter of all known FCCs.
Geueke cautioned that this study does not definitively prove that all these chemicals entered the human body via food packaging, as “other avenues of exposure are possible.” Among the chemicals categorized as being of “high concern” were numerous PFAS compounds, commonly referred to as forever chemicals, which have been found in various areas of the human body over recent years and are linked to several health issues.
Additionally, bisphenol A, a hormone-disrupting substance used in plastic manufacturing and already prohibited in baby bottles in several countries, was detected.
Phthalates, another hormone-disrupting chemical associated with infertility, were also identified. As for oligomers—byproducts of plastic production—much remains unknown about their health effects. “Almost no evidence exists regarding the health impacts of these chemicals,” Geueke remarked.
In the realm of toxicology, a well-known adage states that “the dose determines the poison.” Geueke acknowledged that a limitation of their research was the inability to identify whether certain chemicals were present in particularly high concentrations. However, she cautioned against underestimating the potential interactions between these substances, highlighting one instance where a single sample contained as many as 30 distinct PFAS compounds.
To mitigate risks, Geueke advises individuals to minimize their exposure to packaging materials and to refrain from heating food within its original packaging.
