Food Packaging Pegged as Major Source of BPA Exposure
A recent study led by the Breast Cancer Fund and Silent Spring Institute
reportedly concluded that both bisphenol A (BPA) and bis(2-ethylhexyl)
phthalate (DEHP) exposures “were substantially reduced when participants’
diets were restricted to food with limited packaging.” Ruthann Rudel, et al.,
“Food Packaging and Bisphenol A and Bis(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate Exposure:
Findings from a Dietary Intervention,” Environmental Health Perspectives,
March 30, 2011. Researchers selected “20 participants in five families based
on self-reported use of canned and packaged foods,” and then directed these
subjects to eat “their usual diet, followed by three days of ‘fresh foods’ not
canned or packaged in plastic,” before returning to their customary habits.
The results of urinary samples taken over the eight-day experiment reportedly demonstrated a significant decrease in BPA and DEHP metabolites during the fresh foods intervention. According to the Silent Spring Institute, these findings allegedly “show that food packaging is the major source of exposure to BPA and DEHP in children and adults, and a fresh food diet reduces levels of these chemicals by half, after just three days.” See Silent Spring Press Release, March 30, 2011.
