Dangerous
PFAS chemicals show up in the bodies of people who eat takeout, fast food, and
pizza often at higher levels than in people who regularly cook at home,
according to a new study.
The
study is the first to link certain foods and PFAS exposures in Americans and
adds to mounting evidence that food packaging, especially grease-resistant
boxes, wrappers, and bags used for burgers, pizza, and popcorn, is a major
source of exposure to the toxics for people.
"We
all know eating more fresh foods and more home-cooked meals is good for our
health for many reasons," co-author Laurel Schaider, an environmental
chemist at Silent Spring Institute, told EHN. "I think our study adds further
evidence to support that."
Silent
Spring Institute is a scientific research organization focused on chemical
exposures and women's health.
PFAS
(Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) refers to a class of more than 5,000
chemicals that are used to make everything from food packaging and cookwear to
furniture, carpets and clothing grease-, stain-, and water-repellent. They're
sometimes called "forever chemicals" because don't break down
naturally.
They
can accumulate in the human body, and have been linked to cancer, thyroid
disease, ulcerative colitis, low birth weight, and decreased fertility.
Schaider and her co-authors analyzed data collected between 2003 and 2014 from 10,106 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)—a program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that tracks health and nutritional trends in the United States.
The
survey asked detailed questions about participants' diet and documented what
they ate in the previous 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days, and 12 months. The
participants also provided blood samples that were analyzed for a number of
different PFAS chemicals.
"We
found that every 100 calories of food purchased at a grocery store and prepared
at home instead of at a restaurant was associated with 0.3 to 0.5 percent lower
levels of PFAS in our bodies," Schaider said.
The
average American eats 3,600 calories per day. At that rate, we could estimate
that we'd see around 11 to 15 percent lower levels of PFAS in someone who ate
at home for all three meals in a day than in someone who ate takeout for all
three meals.
High
levels of PFAS have previously been detected in
microwave popcorn bags, and the new study, published in the journal Environmental
Health Perspectives, also found that people who'd eaten microwaved
popcorn daily over the past year had between 39 and 63 percent higher levels of
PFAS in their bodies than people who hadn't.
"We
know we're exposed to PFAS from many different sources," Schaider said,
"but our findings indicate that food consumption is an important pathway
of exposure."
PFAS
also have been detected in drinking water throughout
the country and in many personal care products.
While
eating at home was associated with lower levels of PFAS than eating out
overall, eating fast food and pizza were most strongly linked with higher
levels of PFAS in people.
In
general, the study's findings were most clearly seen in women, which researchers
think could be related to differences in the types of food women and men eat at
home and how they're packaged.
The study didn't analyze food packaging or the food itself for PFAS, but the chemicals can get into food through manufacturing processes or the use of biosolids sprayed on crops. Previous research by the Silent Spring Institute found the chemicals in many types of takeout food packaging, including sandwich, burrito and dessert wrappers and cardboard pizza and takeout boxes.
The
study looked at five of the most common long-chain PFAS chemicals. In recent
years, U.S. manufacturers have been replacing long-chain PFAS with new,
shorter-chain varieties. But these chemicals are also extremely persistent, and
new research suggests they raise similar health concerns, so some experts are
calling for restrictions on the entire class of chemicals.
Last
month, Denmark became the first country to ban the use of all PFAS in food
packaging, but in the U.S. there are no such restrictions.
Schaider
said in addition to cooking more meals at home and avoiding fast food,
"consumers can also make popcorn in ways that don't involve microwave bags
as another easy way to reduce exposure to PFAS."
"But
I think consumers reasonably expect the products they buy in the United States
to be safe," Schaider said. "We can't expect consumers to be
responsible for this. Ultimately, we need better regulations to keep harmful
chemicals from getting into our food and products in the first place."