Opening a bottle or unwrapping a piece of deli meat could be adding tiny plastic particles to your food, new research reveals.Microplastics and nanoplastics can enter food during packaging, processing and even normal use, like twisting a bottle cap or tearing off a plastic wrapper, according to a study published June 25 in NPJ Science of Food.
“This is the first systematic evidence of how normal and intended use of foodstuffs packaged in plastics can be contaminated with micro- and nanoplastics,” said lead author Lisa Zimmermann, a scientific communication officer at the Food Packaging Forum in Zurich.
Researchers reviewed more than 100 studies and found plastic particles in common foods such as rice, canned fish, sodas, bottled water and takeout containers reported. For example, one study found an average of 240,000 plastic particles in a single liter of bottled water. Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic, often less than 5 millimeters wide — about the size of a sesame seed. Nanoplastics are even smaller and measured in billionths of a meter.
They’re so tiny they can travel through your lungs or digestive tract and into your bloodstream, carrying potentially harmful chemicals into your body and cells. Another study found that washing a plastic bowl repeatedly caused more plastic to break off and enter food.
“Researchers washed a melamine bowl 10 times, 20 times, 50 times, 100 times and measured the amount of microplastic it released each time,” Zimmermann said. “Then they put something in the bowl and tested it and found more microplastic release after increased washing.”
Even glass jars may not be safe if the lids are lined with plastic. Repeated opening and closing can lead to tiny plastic particles getting into the food or drink.
Are You Being Slowly Poisoned by Many Toxic Chemicals Entering Your Body Via Plastic Food Packaging and….
According to the report, people who use black plastic kitchen utensils like spatulas or slotted spoons can be exposed to an average of 34.7 parts per million of decabromodiphenyl ether, or decaBDE, each day. This chemical is part of the polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDE, family of flame retardants. A study found that people with high levels of PBDEs in their blood are 300 percent more likely to experience terminal cancer. Replace them with wood or stainless steel utensils.
What should you do? Read on. That plastic wrap you find around the food you eat is far from benign: A new study shows that more than 3,600 chemicals leach into food during the packaging process. That plastic wrap you find around the food you eat is far from benign: A new study shows that more than 3,600 chemicals leach into food during the packaging process.
Of that number, 79 chemicals are known to cause cancer, genetic mutations, and endocrine and reproductive issues, a team of international researchers reported Tuesday in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology.
Seriously, stop microwaving your food in plastic
‘We’re exposed to a chemical soup.
Inside your refrigerator and pantry, plastic is everywhere. There’s plastic wrap, storage bags and bins, clamshell takeout containers, beverage bottles, and condiment tubs, of course. Plastics (synthetic polymers) are also a component of the multi-layer material that make up chip bags and encase granola bars. Tin, steel, and aluminum cans, like the type that might hold beans or a soda, are lined with plastic. Even many paper products, such as paper cups and frozen food trays, are coated in–you guessed it–plastic.
So how worried should you be about the plastic cradling your next meal? Is it safe?
The answer depends on multiple factors, experts tell Popular Science–but plastic panic isn’t something to dismiss and there are ways to reduce your exposure risk.
200 Chemicals Tied to Breast Cancer in Food Packaging
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Food sold in shrink wrap, on cardboard trays or in paper containers might contain any of nearly 200 chemicals linked to breast cancer, a new study warns.
Commonly used food packaging materials contain 189 chemicals that can potentially cause breast cancer, researchers reported Sept. 24 in the journal Frontiers in Toxicology.
These hazardous chemicals — including PFAS, bisphenols and phthalates — can migrate from packaging into food, and thus be ingested by people, researchers said.
What can you do?
First stop buying any oils like olive oil in plastic bottles. Pay a little more and get glass only. Any plastic exposed to heat will leach into your water and food. Buy glass when possible.
It’s alarming to consider all of the places plastic infiltrates our food supply and the ways it could be affecting us. Yet eliminating all plastic from your pantry could easily become a full-time job. Instead of worrying and working yourself into a tizzy, there are ways to take realistic actions to minimize your risk of chemical exposure at home.
Heat, surface area, duration of contact, and basic chemistry are all useful factors to consider when making a choice about how to store food.
First of all, DO NOT MICROWAVE FOODS IN PLASTIC. “Higher temperatures facilitate the leaching of chemicals and the release of microplastics,” says Martin Wagner, a biologist studying plastic exposure at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. “Never microwave in plastic,” agrees Philip Landrigan, an epidemiologist and public health physician at Boston College. Avoid storing hot foods, like fresh-off-the-stove soups, in plastic containers as well, says Braun. It’s healthier never even to use a microwave oven ever. Your eating altered food using one.
Then, consider the relative amount of food to plastic contact. Liquids, powders, and grains all have lots of surface area to absorb chemicals, notes Muncke. Single-serving containers result in a higher plastic to food ratio, so it is wise to opt for the bulk option where possible. And food stored in plastic for months at a time is more of a concern than something sitting in plastic overnight or for a couple of days in the fridge. Non-perishables and pantry staples, like flour, rice, and cooking liquids are better kept over the long term in glass, stainless steel, or ceramic vessels, she says.
Finally, high fat and high acid foods can pull more chemicals out of a storage container. Oils, vinegars, cheeses, tomato sauce, and sodas are more reactive and “can be a driver for migration,” Muncke tells Popular Science. Consider purchasing versions of these items that don’t come in plastic or plastic-lined cans.
As a bonus, most of these changes have dual benefits: reducing the negative health risks of chemical exposure and cutting the amount of single-use plastic that ends up land-filled, says Braun.
