A recent study reveals that more than 3,600 chemicals used in food packaging or preparation have been discovered in the human body, with some posing serious health risks, while little is known about the effects of many others.
Birgit Geueke, the lead author from Zurich’s Food Packaging Forum Foundation, explained that about 100 of these chemicals are categorized as being of “high concern” for human health.
Well-known offenders such as PFAS, dubbed “forever chemicals,” and bisphenol A, have been thoroughly researched and are already the focus of regulatory bans. However, a significant knowledge gap remains regarding the health impacts of numerous other substances.
Geueke called attention to the urgent need for further research, highlighting the alarming reality that some chemicals from food packaging are ingested alongside the food itself. Her team’s earlier work cataloged about 14,000 food contact chemicals (FCCs), substances capable of “migrating” from various packaging materials—ranging from plastics to metals into the food they contain.
Additionally, chemicals from conveyer belts and kitchen tools can also contribute to this transfer.
In their recent investigation, the researchers mined biomonitoring databases, which track chemicals found in human samples, expecting to identify only a few hundred FCCs. Instead, they were astonished to discover 3,601—a quarter of all known FCCs.
Though Geueke cautioned that not all of these chemicals definitively entered the body through food packaging, as “other exposure sources are possible,” the findings were still troubling.
Among the most concerning chemicals were various PFAS compounds, linked to health issues and detected in numerous parts of the body. Bisphenol A, a hormone-disrupting agent used in plastics, was also found, having already been banned from baby bottles in several countries.
The toxicological principle that “the dose makes the poison” came into play here, though Geueke noted that the study did not assess the concentration of these chemicals in the body. She raised concerns about their potential interactions, pointing to one sample that contained up to 30 distinct PFAS.
As a precaution, Geueke advised minimizing exposure to packaging, particularly by avoiding reheating food in its original container. While the intention isn’t to cause panic, she stressed that “the way we package our food is… going in a direction which is not good for the environment and human health.”
Fortunately, there’s some positive news. Regulatory bodies are beginning to act, with the European Union in the final stages of banning PFAS in food packaging, and a similar ban for bisphenol A expected by the end of the year.
The study was published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.