Food packaging harbours harmful toxins
March 31st, 2011 - 1:43 pm ICT by ANIWashington, March 31 (ANI): A new study has confirmed that plastic wrappers, food cans and storage tubs deposit at least two potentially harmful chemicals into our food.
By cutting out containers, people can dramatically reduce their exposures to these toxins.
The chemicals — bisphenol A, or BPA, and a phthalate called DEHP — are known to disrupt hormonal systems in the bodies of both animals and people, leading to developmental and reproductive problems, as well as cancers, heart disease and brain disorders. And both appear in a wide variety of food packaging materials.
But when people in the new study avoided plastic and ate mostly fresh foods for just three days, the levels of these chemicals in their bodies dropped by more than 50 percent, and sometimes much more.
“What this says is that food packaging is really the major source of exposure to BPA and DEHP,” Discovery News quoted Ruthann Rudel, a toxicologist at the Silent Spring Institute, a research and advocacy group in Newton, Mass, as saying.
“The good news is that we provide some evidence that people can make everyday decisions about their kitchens and their diets if they want to reduce exposure to these compounds,” added Rudel.
These chemicals appear in a huge range of consumer products. DVDs, eyeglasses and cash-register receipts may contain BPA.
The study has been reported in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. (ANI)
- Potency wrecking compound linked to heart disease - Feb 24, 2012
- Exposure to toxic chemical higher than suspected - Jun 06, 2011
- Foetal exposure to chemical BPA causes problems in girls - Oct 24, 2011
- Prenatal exposure to chemical in plastic linked to wheezing in kids - May 02, 2011
- Dangerous plastics chemical can pass through the skin - Nov 05, 2010
- Exposure to plastics chemical linked to reduced semen quality - Oct 28, 2010
- Chemicals used in plastics 'feminise' brains of baby boys - Nov 16, 2009
- Exposure to toxic chemical linked to wheezing in kids - May 02, 2011
- Your shampoo could be making you fat - Jul 11, 2011
- Indian boffins come up with 'green' way of decomposing BPA-containing plastic - May 13, 2010
- Chemicals in plastics, make-up latest cause of diabetes - Apr 13, 2012
- Packaging chemical could cheat men of sex appeal - Jun 29, 2011
- Fungi shows promise in decomposing toxic plastic - May 13, 2010
- Green way of decomposing toxic plastic found - Feb 03, 2010
- Early-life exposure to BPA may harm testis function in adulthood - Jun 22, 2010
Tags: advocacy group, bpa, brain disorders, cash register, discovery news, environmental health perspectives, everyday decisions, food cans, food packaging materials, fresh foods, harmful chemicals, harmful toxins, heart disease, hormonal systems, newton mass, phthalate, plastic wrappers, silent spring institute, toxicologist, wide variety of food