"Food packaging chemicals may be harmful to human health over long term"

February 2014

"Food Packaging Chemicals May be Harmful to Human Health Over Long Term"

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140219205215.htm

     The synthetic chemicals used in the packaging, storage, and processing of foodstuffs might be harmful to human health over the long term. This is due to the fact that most of these substances are not inert and can leach into the foods we eat. Although some of these chemicals are regulated, people who eat packaged and/or processed foods are likely to be chronically exposed to low levels of these substances throughout their lives, and not too much is known about their long term impact.
      Lifelong exposure to food contact materials or FCMs, substances used in packaging, storage, processing, or preparation equipment, "is a cause for concern for several reasons." These include the fact that known toxicants like formaldehyde, a cancer causing substance, are legally used in these materials. Formaldehyde is indeed present, though at low levels, in plastic bottles used for fizzy drinks and melamine tableware. In addition, other chemicals known to disrupt hormone production also show up in FCMs, including bisphenol A, tributyltin, triclosan, and phthalates.