| Next time you're ordering from a favorite fast | | | | These samples also contained high levels of |
| food place, or tossing some popcorn in the | | | | diPAPs, which suggests the compound is already in |
| microwave, think about this... the chemicals that | | | | drinking water and farms. |
| are used to make food wrappers like | | | | Animals, even those in locations as remote at the |
| grease-proof paper have also been found, for the | | | | Artic, too have levels of these compounds in their |
| first time ever, someplace you might not like - in | | | | blood. |
| human blood. | | | | The team suspects that diPAPs might be |
| This according to startling new research in the | | | | contributing to as much as 10% of the PFOA in |
| journal Environmental Science & Technology, | | | | our own bloodstream. What's more, the other |
| the latest in a series of studies that date back to | | | | steps in the breakdown process can bring forth |
| the late 1990s on compounds known as | | | | molecules that have been shown in studies to be |
| perfluorochemicals or PFCs for short. | | | | ten thousand times more toxic than PFOA. |
| And since we're abbreviating, there's PFOA | | | | "The take-home message is that some chemicals |
| (perfuorooctanoic acid) a rather worrisome | | | | that make our lives easier, better and more |
| member of this family; PFOS (perfluorooctane | | | | satisfying end up in our bloodstream with |
| sulfonate) is another. Finally diPAP (polfluoroalkyl | | | | unknown toxicological consequences," warns study |
| phosphoric acid diesters) is the compound that | | | | co-author Mabury. |
| keeps the wrapper around your food from | | | | He also points out that, "The diPAPs occur at |
| getting greasy. | | | | levels in human blood that are comparable to |
| Scott Mabury, a chemist at the University of | | | | PFOA. We know diPAPs don't last long in the |
| Toronto and his team, wanted to learn more | | | | body, so this suggests an important and fairly |
| about the as-yet-unstudied precursor to PFOA, | | | | constant source." |
| diPAP, a chemical used to make fast food | | | | When little-understood compounds like these end |
| wrappers resist grease. | | | | up in our food and our environment they're able |
| He suspected these substances were leaking | | | | to enter our bodies, our drinking water and the |
| from the wrappers into the food, and it turns out | | | | bodies of other animals, even those very far |
| he was right. | | | | removed from our civilized world, like Polar bears |
| These chemicals aren't sold commercially, rather | | | | in the Artic harbor. |
| they're products or aids to processing used to | | | | So far, perfluorochemicals have been found in |
| make other things. | | | | every human blood sample tested, and at pretty |
| Both PFOA and PFOS resist oil and water, so | | | | high levels too. In animal studies PFOA and PFOS |
| they're ideal as linings for carpets as well as the | | | | have been tied to developmental problems, |
| coating on non-stick pans, but you'll also find them | | | | cancer and other. |
| in our clothes and electronics, and in food | | | | The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has |
| packaging like microwave popcorn bags and pizza | | | | convinced American manufacturers to stop using |
| boxes. They are used by the biggest brands like | | | | PFOS, and has encouraged other firms to find |
| Teflon, Stainmaster, Scotchgard and Gore-Tex. | | | | alternatives and cut emissions of PFOA, as well as |
| The team used a very sensitive, half million dollar | | | | many of the super dangerous precursor |
| mass spectrometer to look at 20 pooled blood | | | | molecules. |
| samples, collected all across the Midwestern U.S. | | | | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration studies |
| of both men and women ranging in age from 19 | | | | show that diPAPs and other such chemicals can |
| to 70 years old. | | | | migrate in to some foods at levels that are |
| Each pooled sample was made up of ten different | | | | several hundred times higher than the currently |
| blood donors. The first ten collected during | | | | approved guidelines. |
| 2004-2005, another ten in 2008. | | | | No one, so far, has studied the health effects in |
| Surprisingly, the team saw levels of diPAPs in the | | | | people of exposure to the grease reducing |
| samples, even though they'd expected this | | | | chemicals, or the by products of these |
| compound to break down quickly and be | | | | substances. |
| undetected - yet it was at the same high levels | | | | Until more is know, your best bet is to limit your |
| as PFOA. | | | | exposure as much as possible to plastic packaging |
| The researchers also analyzed extracts from six | | | | wherever possible to avoid chemicals in body |
| sewage sludge samples that had been collected in | | | | building up. |
| waste treatment plants in Canada during 2007. | | | | |