The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has joined the Center for Science in the Public Interest and other consumer groups in petitioning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to remove several chemicals from food contact materials. The first food additive petition asks FDA to promulgate a new rule “prohibiting the use of perchlorate as a conductivity enhancer in the manufacture of antistatic agents to be used in food contact articles,” and to amend existing regulations to ban the use of potassium perchlorate in food container sealing gaskets. Citing “the well-recognized toxicity of perchlorate,” the petition alleges that dietary exposure can impair fetal and infant development, especially when pregnant or nursing women do not consume enough iodine. A second petition urges the agency to revoke approval for “the use of long-chain perfluorocarboxylate [PFC] oil and grease repellents in paper and paperboard.” Noting that FDA has already asked some domestic manufacturers to…
Tag Archives PFAs
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the addition of 134 chemicals to its second Tier 1 screening list under the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). Among those chemicals listed are DBCP, 1,4-dioxane, acetaldehyde, acrolein, acrylamide, benzene, benzo(a)pyrene, chlordane, HCFC-22, perchlorate, PFOS, PFOA, and polychlorinated biphenyls. Comments are requested by December 17, 2010. According to EPA, “[t]he list includes chemicals that have been identified as priorities under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and may be found in sources of drinking water where a substantial number of people may be exposed. The list also includes pesticide active ingredients that are being evaluated under EPA’s registration review program to ensure they meet current scientific and regulatory standards.” Following public comment and review, “EPA will issue test orders to pesticide registrants and the manufacturers of these chemicals to compel them to generate data to determine whether their chemicals may disrupt the estrogen,…
A recent study purportedly ties compounds in nonstick cookware and waterproof fabrics to higher cholesterol levels in children. Stephanie Frisbee, et al., “Perfluorooctanoic Acid, Perfluorooctanesulfonate, and Serum Lipids in Children and Adolescents,” Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, September 2010. Researchers from West Virginia University evaluated 12,476 children and teens in the mid-Ohio River Valley to determine possible connections between their cholesterol levels and the compounds perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS). According to the abstract, researchers determined that the compounds were “significantly associated” with increased total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Results also apparently indicated that the children with the highest levels of PFOA had total cholesterol levels 4.6 points higher and LDL levels 3.8 points higher than those with the lowest levels. See Reuters, September 6, 2010.
U.S. and Danish researchers have published an article that discusses a study conducted on a subset of the Danish National Birth Cohort of some 100,000 children and their mothers to explore whether bloodstream levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), chemicals used in food packaging, may affect fertility. Chunyuan Fei, et al., “Maternal Levels of Perfluorinated Chemicals and Subfecundity,” Human Reproduction, January 28, 2009. Noting that these chemicals are also used in many other consumer products, “are persistent in the environment and have been detected in wildlife and humans around the world,” the researchers found that higher maternal PFOA and PFOS levels were associated with a longer time to pregnancy. They conclude that exposure to these chemicals “may explain some of the fertility differences seen among different populations in developed countries.”
