They Are Getting Into Food
By UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
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| In a new study published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters, fluorinated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic containers — used for household cleaners, pesticides, personal care products and, potentially, food packaging — tested positive for PFAS. Credit: University of Notre Dame |
Scientists at the University of Notre Dame are expanding their list of consumer products that contain PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a harmful group of fluorine-based compounds known as “forever chemicals.”
A new study published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters has revealed that fluorinated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic containers, which are commonly used for household cleaners, pesticides, personal care products, and potentially food packaging, contain PFAS.
The research was
prompted by a report from the EPA which showed that these containers were
contributing high levels of PFAS to pesticides. This new study represents the
first measurement of the leaching of PFAS from these containers into food and
the impact of temperature on the leaching process.
Results also showed the PFAS were capable of
migrating from the fluorinated containers into food, resulting in a direct
route of significant exposure to the hazardous chemicals, which have been
linked to several health issues including prostate, kidney, and testicular
cancers, low birth weight, immunotoxicity, and thyroid disease.
“Not only did we measure significant concentrations of PFAS in these containers, we can estimate the PFAS that were leaching off creating a direct path of exposure,” said Graham Peaslee, professor of physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Notre Dame and an author of the study.
It’s important to note that these types of
containers are not intended for food storage, but there is nothing preventing
them from being used for food storage at the moment. Although not all HDPE
plastic is fluorinated, the researchers noted, it’s often impossible for a
consumer to know whether a container has had that treatment. And indeed,
Peaslee added, if substances like pesticides are stored in these containers,
and then are used on agricultural crops, these same PFAS will get into human
food sources that way.
In 2021 the EPA announced its PFAS Strategic
Roadmap — promising to act on widespread exposure to PFAS. The plan includes
developing a more comprehensive understanding of the health and environmental
effects of PFAS exposure, preventing further contamination of air, land and
water, and addressing the need for cleanup of PFAS already in the environment.
PFAS is often used in association with stain-
or water-resistant products. For the study, Peaslee and graduate student
Heather Whitehead tested HDPE containers that were treated with fluorine to
create a thin layer of a fluoropolymer, as a means to impart chemical
resistance and improve container performance over long storage periods. While
these materials generally stay in the container wall, the manufacturing process
can generate lots of smaller PFAS molecules, which are not polymers.
Experiments were designed to measure the ability of these chemicals to migrate
from the container to samples of different foods and solvents.
Analysis of the containers found
parts-per-billion levels of PFAS that could migrate into both solvents and food
matrices in as little as one week.
“We measured concentrations of PFOA that
significantly exceeded the limit set by the EPA’s 2022 Health Advisory Limits,”
said Peaslee. “Now, consider that not only do we know that the chemicals are
migrating into the substances stored in them, but that the containers
themselves work their way back into the environment through landfills. PFAS
doesn’t biodegrade. It doesn’t go away. Once these chemicals are used, they get
into the groundwater, they get into our biological systems, and they cause
significant health problems.”
Peaslee and Whitehead measured PFAS
concentrations in olive oil, ketchup, and mayonnaise that had been in contact
with the fluorinated containers for seven days at various temperatures. Based
on the amount found in the different food samples, the study estimates enough
PFAS could be ingested through food stored in the containers to be a
significant risk of exposure.
The containers are the latest products in a
long list of those tested by Peaslee and his lab at Notre Dame, including cosmetics, firefighting gear, school uniforms, and fast food wrappers.
Reference: “Directly Fluorinated Containers
as a Source of Perfluoroalkyl Carboxylic Acids” by Heather D. Whitehead and
Graham F. Peaslee, 6 March 2023, Environmental Science &
Technology Letters.
DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.3c00083
