Manufacturers agree to remove 'Forever Chemicals' from food packaging - correlated with cancers

Story in a flash:

• FDA announces end to manufacture of toxic PFAS chemicals for food contact packaging
• PFAS are harmful to the liver and cause cancer, infertility, and other diseases and conditions
• States and the EPA target PFAS through legislation. 
• PFAS are also found in clothing, home furnishings, and fertilizer.

Toxic PFAS to be eliminated from some food packaging

U.S. food contact packaging manufacturers had been coating food containers with toxic chemicals called PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, to give them grease/oil and water-resistant properties. Greasy or wet foods that come into direct contact with the container would be packaged in containers coated with these chemicals.

The FDA has stated that produce and livestock grown for food in PFAS-contaminated areas and PFAS in food packaging and cookware are ways that these toxic chemicals enter the food supply:

PFAS in the environment can enter the food supply through plants and animals grown, raised, or processed in contaminated areas. It is also possible for very small amounts of PFAS to enter foods through food packaging, processing, and cookware.

The good news for consumers is that the FDA, in its latest “Constituent Update,” announced that manufacturers have stopped selling these substances for food contact packaging in the U.S. It may take up to 18 months, however, for the market supply of products containing these chemicals to be exhausted.

This action resulted from safety assessments the agency conducted in 2020, after which it obtained voluntary commitments from manufacturers to stop using certain types of PFAS for contact food packaging; these commitments have now been fulfilled. The agency has also confirmed that other manufacturers have voluntarily stopped selling other food contact substances containing different types of PFAS used as grease-proofing agents. The agency noted in its Update, that PFAS had been “applied to fast-food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, take-out paperboard containers, and pet food bags, as well as other similar types of packaging.”

PFAS known as “forever chemicals”

PFAS are a group of chemicals known as “forever chemicals” because of the many years that it takes for them to break down, with half-lives of between two to seven years, as Joseph Pizzorno, ND, editor in chief of the  Integrative Medicine Journal, explained in his article “Fluorocarbons (PFAS)—The Forever Chemicals.” He stated that these chemicals are used in many ways, for “water-repelling textiles, grease-resistant paper, nonstick packaging and cooking appliances, medical and laboratory tubing, aqueous film-forming foams, and industrial detergents.” However, he noted that most people's PFAS exposure comes from food:

Worldwide research to quantify the primary sources of PFAS exposure in the general population found that more than 90% of the average body load comes from diet . . . it is quite possible that water is also a primary source of exposure.

States and the EPA want PFAS out of consumer goods, too

It’s not just PFAS in the food supply that are being targeted; some states and the EPA are also targeting other sources of PFAS contamination; PFAS are still commonly found in clothing and home furnishings, in biosolids (aka sewage waste) used as fertilizer. 

The State of California is attempting to ban “intentionally added” PFAS from consumer goods to take effect in 2030. California already has bills signed by Governor Gavin Newsom making illegal the manufacture, distribution, sale, or offer for sale of textiles and cosmetics products containing PFAS starting January 1, 2025.

Maine and Minnesota are currently enacting comprehensive legislation to ban the use of PFAS.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering action against nine of the thousands of PFAs as hazardous, as Jenn Christenson reported for CNN:

A change to the regulations would make it easier for the government to address PFAS as a part of its cleanup program, the EPA said. Last year, the EPA proposed the first national drinking water standard for PFAS chemicals.

. . . 

“For decades the chemical industry has polluted our communities with toxic ‘forever chemicals,’ putting our health at risk,” said Emily Scarr, director of U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s Stop Toxic PFAS campaign, in a news release. “The EPA’s proposal is a welcome step toward cleaning up contamination. To fully prevent harm from PFAS, we need to phase out the use of the entire class of PFAS and regulate them as a single class. Otherwise, our regulators and lawmakers will be stuck playing an endless game of whack-a mole.”

Harmful effects

PFAS have many detrimental effects on body tissues, as Pizzorno demonstrated in the figure below: 

As shown in the above chart, cholesterol levels increase with greater PFAS exposure. As a healing agent the body manufactures in response to injury, cholesterol production in the body could be expected to increase naturally to deal with the damaging effects of PFAS. Pizzorno prepared the below table summarizing the diseases that correlated with PFAS body load:

These 'forever chemicals" remain in the body for many years and are hard to remove. Check back for ways to mitigate their damage and increase the clearance of these chemicals from your body.