These scientific experts in “Food Packaging” recall that although many countries have legislation on materials in contact with food, intended to protect consumers from dangerous toxic substances, there still exists “a deficiency and an enormous opportunity for prevention of human exposure to these genotoxic breast carcinogens. One of the main authors, Jane Muncke notes that “ cancer prevention by reducing exposure to dangerous chemicals in everyday life remains underexplored and underexploited ».
The study analyzes data from the FCCmigex database, which brings together valuable information from thousands of published scientific studies on chemicals in materials in contact with food, thus identifies:
- 189 new breast carcinogens in food packaging, including 143 in plastics and 89 in paper or cardboard;
- evidence of exposure to 76 breast carcinogens via food packaging purchased and consumed worldwide, 80% of which comes from plastics;
- exposure of the global population to these carcinogenic chemical compounds is assessed as both “continuing” and “increasing”.
Thus, the study highlights considerable gaps in current regulations and their applications. The researchers conclude:
“Our results reflect chronic exposure of the entire population to breast carcinogens and highlight the opportunity and urgency of new prevention initiatives and new legislation.”
Related News :