Plastic containers, sachets and bottles are certainly practical. But they can also pose a risk to our health. Plastic, even that for food use, can in fact release a multitude of chemical substances into drinks and food, called food contact chemicals (FCC), the effects of which on health are in many cases not fully known. A new study published in journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiologyfor example, has identified over 3,600 in human biological samples, of which several dozen whose harmful effects are known, or which are under observation for their potential danger.
The study, carried out by researchers at Food Packaging Forum Foundation of Zurich, has explored the results of five large biomonitoring programs carried out in different areas of the world (including the Human Biomonitoring for Europe project, which contains data on the European population), and the data contained in three large databases which catalog all the metabolites that have been identified within the human organism.
Pollutants in food
Of the 14 thousand known contaminants, 3,601 emerged in at least one of the databases analyzed. No tissue in the human body is safe from these contaminations: blood, urine, breast milk, sweat, saliva, breath, placenta, skin, adipose tissue, have all highlighted the presence of some type of chemical substance coming from plastics. Only 194 of the FCCs identified by the study were present in the data of the biomonitoring programs, and this – write the authors of the study – underlines the need to improve our surveillance systems, because currently many potentially harmful substances are evidently not monitored.
“Our research has established a link between food contact chemicals, exposure to these substances and human health,” comments Birgit Geueke, one of the authors of the study. “The findings highlight how these chemicals have been underestimated in biomonitoring studies to date. And it also shows us what we believe is an important opportunity for prevention and health protection.”
Of the 194 FCCs identified by biomonitoring programs, 80 are substances considered at high risk of harming human health, including some known carcinogens such as formaldehyde, cadmium, styrene and benzophenone. Dozens of other substances from plastics that can contaminate our bodies have potentially harmful effects on fertility. While for other 59 substances identified in the tissues of the human body by the study, information is completely lacking on the effects they can have on our health.
“Our work highlights the fact that materials that come into contact with food are not entirely safe, even when complying with regulations, because they transfer chemicals known to be harmful into consumers’ bodies,” concludes Jane Muncke, co-author of the research. “We would like this new evidence to now be used to improve the safety of materials that come into contact with our food, both in terms of regulations and to guide the development of healthy alternatives.”