We've got to stop doing this to ourselves
The study, published today in the Frontiers in Toxicology journal,
comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — which is responsible for
regulating potentially harmful substances in food and packaging — is reassessing how they manage chemicals in
food additives and packaging, something that health researchers have long
called for.
In the new study, researchers compared the Food Packaging Forum’s database on potentially harmful chemicals that can migrate out of food packaging and tableware to a recently published list of chemicals linked to breast cancer — including PFAS, bisphenols such as BPA and phthalates — developed by the Silent Spring Institute.
They found 189 potential mammary carcinogens in food contact
materials, with 143 of these found in plastics and 89 found in paper or
cardboard.
“This study is important, because it shows that there is a
huge opportunity for prevention of human exposure to breast cancer-causing
chemicals,” said Jane Muncke, managing director of the Food Packaging Forum and
co-author of the study, in a statement. “The potential for cancer prevention by
reducing hazardous chemicals in your daily life is underexplored and deserves
much more attention.”
Muncke and colleagues pointed out that breast cancer is the
most frequently diagnosed cancer for women around the world. While the study
was not set up to prove whether there is any relationship between cancer rates
and food packaging and tableware, it does open the door for research exploring
possible links and prevention strategies.
The study underscores a situation “that likely should have
been mitigated by existing regulations,” said Lindsey Parkinson, data scientist
and scientific editor at the Food Packaging Forum and co-author of the study,
in a statement.
FDA to revisit food chemical contact regulations
The study comes after the FDA’s recent announcement that the
agency will establish a new process to evaluate chemicals in food, including
food and color additives, substances like flavorings, spices and phosphates,
substances used in contact with food, and chemicals unintentionally present
like environmental contaminants.
For decades, the FDA has allowed thousands of artificial chemicals to be part of the American diet either as ingredients like emulsifiers, flavors and sweeteners added to food or chemicals that leach out from packaging and processing equipment like bisphenol-A (BPA), phthalates and PFAS.
Many of these were authorized decades
ago and their safety hasn't been reviewed. Last month, we
uncovered how approvals for recycling plastic food packaging rely on industry
data and has tripled over the past five years, despite research finding
recycled plastic can be more toxic than virgin plastic.
This week, the agency will hold a public meeting on the
issue. You can register for the public meeting
here. You can also submit comments (any time before
December 6).
Brian Bienkowski is the senior news editor at Environmental Health News.
