Industrial Chemicals – Linked to a Long List of Serious Health Problems – Detected in US Fast Foods
By GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Chicken nuggets, burritos, and other popular items consumers buy
from fast food outlets in the United States contain chemicals that are linked
to a long list of serious health problems, according to a first-of-its-kind
study published in the Journal of Exposure Science and
Environmental Epidemiology.
Researchers at the George Washington University and their
colleagues bought fast foods from popular outlets and found 10 of 11
potentially harmful chemicals in the samples, including phthalates, a group of
chemicals that are used to make plastics soft and are known to disrupt the
endocrine system. The research team also found other plasticizers, chemicals
that are emerging as replacements to phthalates.
“We found phthalates and other plasticizers are widespread in prepared foods available at U.S. fast food chains, a finding that means many consumers are getting a side of potentially unhealthy chemicals along with their meal,” Lariah Edwards, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral scientist at GW, said. “Stronger regulations are needed to help keep these harmful chemicals out of the food supply.”
Previously, a GW research team led by Ami Zota, a professor of
environmental and occupational health, looked at fast food consumption in a national survey and found people who reported
eating more fast foods had higher levels of phthalates. No one
has looked at the link between fast food and non-phthalate plasticizers, which
are used in place of banned or restricted phthalates in food packaging and
processing equipment.
In this study, Edwards, Zota and their colleagues purchased 64
fast food items from different restaurants and asked for three pairs of unused
food handling gloves. The team tested food items and the gloves for 11 kinds of
phthalates and plasticizers, finding that:
81% of the food samples studied contained a phthalate called DnBP
and 70% contained DEHP. Both these chemicals have been linked in numerous
studies to fertility and reproductive problems in humans. These phthalates can
also increase risk for learning, attention, and behavioral disorders in
childhood.
86% of the foods contained the replacement plasticizer known as
DEHT, a chemical that needs further study to determine its impact on human
health.
Foods containing meats, such as cheeseburgers and chicken
burritos, had higher levels of the chemicals studied.
Chicken burritos and cheeseburgers had the highest levels of DEHT.
The researchers noted that food handling gloves collected from the same
restaurants also contained this chemical.
Cheese pizzas had the lowest levels of most chemicals tested.
Phthalates and replacement plasticizers are chemicals used to make
plastics soft and can migrate out of plastics into the food, which is ingested.
Some sources of plastics include food handling gloves, industrial tubing, food
conveyor belts and the outer packaging used to wrap fast food meals available
in restaurants.
Previous research by Zota’s team suggests that people who
eat food cooked at home have lower levels of these chemicals in
their bodies, probably because home cooks do not use food handling gloves or
plastic packaging. To avoid these industrial chemicals, consumers can switch to
mostly home cooked meals, which are often healthier than fast food, Edwards
said.
Both Edwards and Zota say their study suggests the need for
greater scrutiny and regulation of chemicals used to make food. They point out
that replacement plasticizers are increasingly used to replace banned or restricted
phthalates yet the studies needed to show that they are safe have yet to be
done.
The study also raises the concern that certain racial/minority
groups may be disproportionately affected by these chemicals.
“Disadvantaged neighborhoods often have plenty of fast food
outlets, but limited access to healthier foods like fruits and vegetables,”
Zota said. “Additional research needs to be done to find out whether people
living in such food deserts are at higher risk of exposure to these harmful
chemicals.”
Reference: “Phthalate and Novel Plasticizer Concentrations in Food
Items from U.S. Fast Food Chains: A Preliminary Analysis” by Lariah Edwards,
Nathan L. McCray, Brianna N. VanNoy, Alice Yau, Ruth J. Geller, Gary
Adamkiewicz and Ami R. Zota, 27 October 2021, Journal of Exposure Science and
Environmental Epidemiology.
DOI:
10.1038/s41370-021-00392-8
This research was supported by the Passport Foundation, Forsythia
Foundation and Marisla Foundation.
Read a Fact Sheet (PDF) of
the study.