At least 3,601 chemicals in our bodies come from packaging or kitchen utensils

Eternal pollutants, bisphenols, phthalates, heavy metals, pesticides, volatile organic compounds… at least 3,601 chemical substances, some of which are particularly dangerous to health, found in our bodies come from materials that come into contact with food, such as packaging or kitchen utensils.

This impressive count comes from an unprecedented study published Tuesday, September 17 in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. She reports on “the widespread exposure of humans to chemicals that come into contact with foodstuffs [FCC pour food contact chemicals, en anglais] ». A largely underestimated exhibition: 3,601, that’s twice as many as previously thought.

This new assessment is the result of an international collaboration between researchers from the Food Packaging Forum (a foundation based in Zurich), the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology and the Institute of Environmental Health Science at Wayne University (Detroit, United States).

To arrive at this estimate, the authors conducted a systematic review of food contact molecules that have been monitored and detected in human biomonitoring studies. According to the scientific literature, just over 14,000 FCCs have now been identified. They were searched in five biomonitoring programs (in Europe, North America and South Korea) and three databases on the exposome (the set of exposures throughout life) and the metabolome (the set of metabolites found in a biological sample). From the most frequently detected FCCs in food contact materials, they were then able to map for the first time the available evidence of their presence in the body.

As a result, for about a quarter (3,601) of the 14,402 FCCs listed, researchers have found evidence of their presence in biological samples (blood, urine, serum, skin, plasma, etc.). Even more worrying, about 80 of these chemical compounds that come into contact with food belong to the category of substances of very high concern. According to the classification of the European Chemicals Agency, these are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic substances for reproduction or persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances.

Materials “not completely safe”

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