Study: Food packaging contains almost 200 potential breast carcinogens – dozens of which can penetrate the body
This worrying finding comes amid a sharp rise in cancer diagnoses among young people. For example, a paper published in January by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that breast cancer diagnoses in women under the age of 50 have steadily increased over the past two decades.
Source: Transition News, 27 Sept. 2024
Nearly 200 chemicals linked to breast cancer are used in food packaging – and dozens of these carcinogens can end up in the body. This is the result of a recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Toxicology. It is entitled “Potential mammary carcinogens used in food contact articles: implications for policy, enforcement, and prevention”.
There is clear evidence that several known and potential breast cancer-causing agents from food contact materials recently purchased around the world can be found in humans, Jane Muncke told CNN. Muncke is co-author of the study and executive and scientific director of the Food Packaging Forum, a nonprofit foundation based in Zurich.
“This revelation comes amid a sharp rise in cancer diagnoses among young people,” according to the New York Post. For example, a study conducted in January by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that breast cancer diagnoses in women under the age of 50 have steadily increased over the past two decades.
Muncke states: “Eliminating these known or suspected carcinogens in our food is a great opportunity for cancer prevention.”
According to the New York Post,a list updated earlier this year included 921 possible carcinogens, including 642 chemicals that are thought to stimulate oestrogen or progesterone production – which is considered a risk factor for breast cancer. Jenny Kay, a researcher at Silent Spring and co-author of the 2024 update, told CNN:
“The fact that so many potential breast cancer-causing agents are in food packaging and can leach into our food is just one example of how many chemicals we are unknowingly exposed to every day”
Most of the carcinogens are linked to plastics used in food packaging. however, 89 suspected carcinogens were found in paper and cardboard packaging. “Paper contains additives such as emulsifiers and adhesives, for example when papers are glued together or a layer of plastic is glued to the paper,” says Muncke.
Some of the chemicals identified in the study are PFAS, technically known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a group of synthetic chemicals that have been used in packaging, clothing, carpets, fire-fighting foam and even toilet paper since the 1950s.
Due to the strong molecular bonds found in PFAS, they do not break down easily – and concentrations of PFAS accumulate over time in humans, animals and the environment. This has earned them the name “chemicals for eternity”.
Transition News recently reported that critics had accused the WHO of failing to protect human health, ignoring credible research findings and undermining the PFAS limits set by the EU and the US.
Source:
Frontiers in Toxicology: Potential mammary carcinogens used in food contact articles: implications for policy, enforcement, and prevention – 24 September 2024
New York Post: Hundreds of chemicals linked to breast cancer found in food packaging, alarming new study reveals – 24 September 2024
