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According to a new study, PFAS – a large family of several thousand chemicals – seem to be spreading through our food in just one week.
Technical clothing, fire-fighting foam, food packaging… Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS or “eternal chemicals”, are present almost everywhere in our daily lives. The problem ? According to a new study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Lettersthese toxins could contaminate food very quickly.
PFAS found in solvents and food products
Scientists have found that PFAS – those substances added to multiple products to make them resistant to heat, water, oil and corrosion – could contaminate solvents and some food products”in just one week“, which is enough to endanger the health of consumers.
“Our estimate of PFAS releases in food ranged from 0.77 to 2.68 ng/kg body weight per week, showing that ingestion of food stored in these containers could be an important source of exposure.“, they claim.
Other objects that often test positive for PFAS: household products, pesticides and cosmetics.
“Not only did we measure significant concentrations of PFAS in these containers, but we can also estimate that the PFAS that leached created a direct exposure pathway“, says Graham Peaslee, professor of physics at the University of Notre Dame, and lead author of the study.
Among the PFAS identified, short-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) were detected”at the highest frequencies and concentrations“, further notes the study.
Compounds linked to different health problems
As a reminder, PFAS are associated with various health problems, such as preeclampsiaimpaired liver enzymes, increased blood lipids, decreased response to vaccines and low birth weight.
For all these reasons, the study authors hope that these findings will inspire more experts to consider the impact of PFAS on human health and the environment.
They now wish that future studies “explore their fate when they are disposed of or recycled“.