Toxic chemicals used in food preparation leach into human bodies, study finds
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-024-00718-2 Evidence for widespread human exposure to food contact chemicals
More than 3,600 chemicals that leach into food during the manufacturing, processing, packaging and storage of the world’s food supply end up in the human body — and some are connected to serious health harms, a new study found.
“This is a staggering number and shows that food contact materials are a significant source of chemicals in humans,” said Martin Wagner, a professor of biology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, in an email.
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“The study is the first to systematically link the chemicals we use in materials to package and process foods to human exposure,” said Wagner, who was not involved in the research.
Seventy-nine of the food-processing chemicals found in the body are known to cause cancer, genetic mutations, endocrine and reproductive issues, and other health concerns, according to the study published Monday in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology.
Many more chemicals may be harmful in ways that science does not yet know, said senior study author Jane Muncke, managing director and chief scientific officer at the Food Packaging Forum, a nonprofit foundation based in Zurich, Switzerland, that focuses on science communication and research.
“We’re measuring not only the chemicals that were known to be used in the food manufacturing process, but all the gunk as well — the byproducts and impurities that we call non-intentionally added substances,” Muncke said.
“Those substances are always present in plastic, in can and package coatings, in printing inks and so on. They may not have a technical function in the food processing, but they are there regardless and migrating into people, and we measure them.”
Wrapping foods in plastic wrap are just one of many ways that humans are exposed to food contact chemicals, experts say.
Wrapping foods in plastic wrap are just one of many ways that humans are exposed to food contact chemicals, experts say. Moment RF/Getty Images
The American Chemistry Council, an industry association, told CNN that its members are dedicated to food safety.
“It is essential, however, when assessing potential risks to consider a broader context, including existing regulatory frameworks, scientific evidence, and the actual levels and degree of exposure that may exist, a council spokesperson said via email.
“Any proposed actions lacking this context, particularly when causality has not been definitively established, is inconsistent with risk-based U.S. chemical regulation laws.”
However, while food contact materials may comply with current government regulations, the study highlights that these chemicals may not be fully safe, Muncke said.
“We don’t know exactly what the amount is that’s been used in food packaging or other food contact materials versus the amount that’s being used for cosmetics, personal care products, textiles and so on and so forth, right? I would like to have that information,” she said.
“I think it would be fantastic to make it a regulatory requirement for companies to declare how much and what type of chemicals they are putting into my food or plastic water bottle.”
Well-studied toxic chemicals found in food
One chemical the study detected in both food and the human body is bisphenol A, or BPA, that had been used to create baby bottles, sippy cups and infant formula containers until frightened parents boycotted those products more than a decade ago.
BPA is an endocrine disruptor that has been linked to fetal abnormalities, low birth weight, and brain and behavior disorders in infants and children. In adults, the chemical has been linked to the development of diabetes, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, cancer and a 49% higher risk of early death within 10 years.
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Bisphenol A can leach into food from the linings of canned foods, polycarbonate tableware, food storage containers and water bottles, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
“The study also shows that food contact materials can contain mutagenic chemicals that harm our DNA, such as heavy metals,” Wagner said. “There is strong evidence that humans are exposed to PFAS, so-called forever chemicals, from food packaging that are very persistent, bioaccumulate and cause organ toxicity.”
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are present in the blood of an estimated 98% of Americans, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The hormone-disrupting chemicals are so worrisome that in July 2022 the Academies set “nanogram” levels of concern and called for testing of high-risk individuals, including infants and older adults. (A nanogram is equivalent to 1 billionth of a gram.)
Another chemical group in food packaging that has migrated into people is phthalates, the research revealed. Found in shampoo, makeup, perfume and children’s toys as well as food containers, phthalates have been linked with genital malformations and undescended testes in baby boys and lower sperm counts and testosterone levels in adult males.
Previous studies have also linked phthalates to childhood obesity, asthma, cardiovascular issues, cancer and premature death in people ages 55 to 64.
Only a few food chemicals are tracked in humans
In the new study, researchers compared 14,000 chemicals known to come in contact with food during the packaging process with worldwide databases that monitor human exposure to potential chemical toxins. All the research data has been uploaded to an open database for scientific use.
“We’ve got, say, 60 years of research into the migration of chemicals into food from food processing and packaging equipment. It’s been studied very extensively,” Muncke said.
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“And at the same time, there’s increasingly good, powerful studies coming out on Bisphenol A, on phthalates, on PFAS, brominated flame retardants and so forth that are associated with diseases in people.”
What was lacking in the literature was a comparison between what was found in people and the chemicals known to migrate during food processing into food. To connect the dots, Muncke and her colleagues looked at national and regional biomonitoring databases that track chemicals in human blood, urine, breast milk, tissue samples and other biomarkers.
For the study, researchers used data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES, which gathers yearly health and nutrition data on Americans. Other databases included the Canadian Health Measures Survey, Human Biomonitoring for Europe, the Korean National Environmental Health Survey and Biomonitoring California, a state database.
Of the 14,000 chemicals known to migrate into food during processing and packaging, only a few hundred are measured in people by these programs, according to the study. For example, only 172 chemicals detected in food contact materials are monitored in the United States by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey — 144 of these chemicals have been detected in some populations, Muncke said.
“Given that there are (tens) of thousands of food contact chemicals, biomonitoring programs do not have the capacity to test for all chemicals we are potentially exposed to,” Wagner said. “This creates biases towards very well studied substances and leaves a big gap in our knowledge on all the other chemicals we potentially have in our bodies.”
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Of course, having a chemical in the body does not necessarily mean the chemical is harmful, said Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, a consumer organization that monitors exposure to PFAS and other dangerous chemicals.
“Yet you’re not supposed to be born with any chemical inside of you,” Benesh said. “The bigger question is do we really need these chemicals to process our food? When there are chemicals in our bodies that we know have the potential to cause us harm, we should be eliminating every route of exposure that we can.”
‘Generally recognized as safe’
Since 2000, nearly 99% of any new food contact chemicals were greenlit for use by the food and chemical industry, not the US Food and Drug Administration, according to a 2022 analysis by EWG.
In that 22-year period, food manufacturers asked the FDA’s permission to introduce a chemical 10 times, the analysis said. Instead, “companies have exploited a loophole for substances that are ‘generally recognized as safe,’ or GRAS. The loophole lets food manufacturers — not the FDA — decide a substance is safe,” the EWG report stated.
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Created by an amendment in the 1950s to the 1938 Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, GRAS was intended to be applied narrowly to common ingredients such as sugar, vinegar and baking soda.
The US Government Accountability Office released a report in November 2022 highlighting FDA limitations in monitoring the nation’s food safety, including the agency’s lack of legal authority over food manufacturers.
“In addition, FDA does not track the date of the last pre- or postmarket review for all food contact substances in a way that allows FDA to readily identify substances that may warrant a postmarket review because new safety information may have emerged,” the GAO report stated.
FDA’s deputy commissioner for human foods, Jim Jones, told US House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s subcommittee on health last week that the FDA has made food chemical safety a top priority.
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“However, there are also important gaps that need to be addressed as we undertake the work to strengthen our food chemical safety activities,” he said. “Ready access to safety information and consumer exposure data on chemicals in need of review would help us conduct faster and more robust safety evaluations and reassessments. Access to this data would allow FDA to take any necessary regulatory actions in a timely manner to protect consumers and help ensure food safety.”
For the first time, the FDA will hold a public hearing, slated for September 25, on enhancing its assessment of chemicals found in food, including food and color additives, food contact substances, potential contaminants and pesticides, and ingredients considered generally recognized as safe.
“This is unprecedented,” the EWG’s Benesh said. “This is the first time the FDA is talking about standing up a rigorous review program that puts human health first, that puts chemical safety first, and that restores some of the trust consumers have lost in the agency.”
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“What is certainly of concern is that we have a strong link that shows some hazardous chemicals … migrate from packaging into food, so there is a contribution to exposure from packaging,” said Birgit Geueke, a study co-author with the Food Packaging Forum, a Zurich-based non-profit that advocates for stronger regulations.
The study identified about 14,000 chemicals approved for food contact, and checked databases and scientific literature for evidence of human accumulation on each. Humans are exposed to many of the chemicals in other scenarios, so the research does not mean to suggest that food packaging is solely responsible.
Among the worst offenders is plastic, a material that is largely unregulated and can contain thousands of chemicals. Silicone and coatings on metal cans can also contain toxic or understudied compounds, Geueke said. Many paper and cardboard products were until recently treated with PFAS and can contain a layer of plastic.
Several factors can cause chemicals to leach into food at higher rates, like higher temperatures, fat content and acidity. The ratio of packaging to product also matters – foods in smaller containers can be much more contaminated.
Many chemicals in the US are approved with limited scrutiny under the US Food and Drug Administration’s “generally regarded as safe” rule, which allows chemicals to be used for food contact with very little agency scrutiny. US law also does not require the FDA to consider new science after a chemical is approved for food contact.
That has been a problem with chemicals like PFAS or titanium dioxide that were on the market for decades before being removed or further studied. Though the European Union has in place stricter regulations for some chemicals, like PFAS, “there is still a lot of room for improvement”, Geueke said.
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A companion review of recently published research confirmed 189 chemicals linked to breast cancer have been found in the materials, 76 of which migrate out of packaging and utensils during normal use.
Many of these chemicals were approved decades ago by the Food and Drug Administration with little, if any, oversight.
"Some have never been reviewed by the FDA at all because food and chemical companies are exploiting a loophole that lets them, rather than the FDA, decide whether a chemical is safe," said Melanie Benesh, vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, one of several nonprofit organizations that have repeatedly petitioned the agency to ban toxic substances in food and packaging.
"It's no surprise that consumer confidence in food chemical safety is falling," Benesh said.
Years of legal and political pressure are just now forcing changes in an arm of the government long dominated by industry priorities rather than public health concerns.
After decades of denial, the FDA is vowing to overhaul its review processes and conduct more rigorous reviews of food chemicals already on the market.
Details remain slim. Agency officials cautioned Wednesday their budget to assess chemicals doesn't come close to the amount necessary to conduct a robust safety program.
"You have to start somewhere," Jim Jones, the FDA's first-ever deputy commissioner for human foods, said during a public discussion about the agency's plans.
Jones, who formerly ran the chemical safety office at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, noted that several states have banned certain food additives and food contact chemicals.
To build a strong national food safety system, Jones said, the FDA needs to step in with "a systematic approach for chemical reassessment," something he acknowledged has never existed at the nation's chief food safety agency.
Absent further direction from Congress, though, it will likely take years to determine the fate of chemicals that researchers—and in some cases the FDA itself—already have flagged because they are suspected of posing significant health hazards.
One example is bisphenol A, or BPA, a hormone-scrambling chemical used in food can linings, food containers and water bottles. BPA has been linked to birth defects and behavior disorders in infants and children. In adults, the chemical can trigger diabetes, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, cancer and early death.
Other than banning BPA in baby bottles and infant formula cans, FDA officials have said the chemical is safe for approved uses. But in 2021, the European Union determined BPA is harmful at levels far below what once was considered safe. A year later, nonprofit groups petitioned the U.S. food safety agency to take action; the FDA has yet to respond.
Other chemicals routinely found in food packaging and plastics are PFAS—per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—used to repel oil and grease and withstand high temperatures.
Known as forever chemicals because they don't break down in the environment, PFAS are in the blood of almost every American, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Researchers have urged physicians to screen pregnant women and other sensitive groups for breast cancer, unhealthy cholesterol levels and high blood pressure when the amount of PFAS in their blood exceeds 2 parts per billion—equivalent to a couple of drops of water in a swimming pool.
Then there are phthalates, plastic-softening chemicals added to food containers that have been linked to genital malformations in boys and lower sperm counts and testosterone levels in men. Studies also suggest the chemicals contribute to childhood obesity, asthma, cardiovascular issues, cancer and premature death in people ages 55 to 64.
Illinois trails other states that have banned certain food-related chemicals. Senate-passed legislation stalled in the Illinois House during the spring. It mirrored a new California law banning food additives including brominated vegetable oil, red dye No. 3, propylparaben and potassium bromate.
One of the champions of the proposed legislation is Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, a former U.S. Senate candidate who said he got involved because his office oversees the state's organ donor registry.
"The bottom line is we need to put food safety first," Giannoulias said during a webinar organized by the Environmental Working Group. "We need the FDA to do its job developing a rigorous review program that puts our health first and addresses the impact of chemicals in our food."
Maria Doa, another former EPA chemical safety analyst, said agencies in the U.S. and Europe have given the FDA a road map to identify which chemicals should be assessed first. She urged the FDA to evaluate the cumulative impacts of exposure to multiple chemicals in food contact materials rather than addressing one at a time.
"We think they should be focusing on chemicals that are a concern for children, developmental toxicants, chemicals that are carcinogens, those that cause neurotoxicity," said Doa, now senior director for chemical policy at the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund.
Trade groups for chemical and food companies have defended their members by saying they follow FDA regulations—the same regulations widely condemned as ineffective.
"The U.S. has a robust federal regulatory system in place for managing food safety, including chemical safety, and it is for this reason that the U.S. is consistently ranked as having one of the highest-ranked food safety systems in the world," the American Chemistry Council says on its website.
Scientists have long known that chemicals can leach out of plastics and treated paper products, in particular when food containers and packaging are heated in a microwave or oven.
More sophisticated sampling methods and testing equipment are enabling researchers to determine the scope of potential risks to humans.
Both of the new studies tabulating the number of chemicals in food-related materials relied on a database of research compiled by the Food Packaging Forum, a Swiss-based nonprofit created to raise public awareness about emerging science.
"The potential for cancer prevention by reducing hazardous chemicals in your daily life is underexplored and deserves more attention," said Jane Muncke, the group's managing director.