by Darren Hester
This all started out following a question my mother had. When she says research it, I usually do. And what I found out makes me glad I don’t eat microwave popcorn and I wish everyone else would stop.
Popcorn lung is one worry of microwave popcorn preparation that I had heard about. But I found some others that may also impact all of us.
Maybe not everyone has heard about the data regarding PFOA and microwave popcorn bags from a few years ago. Perfluorooctanoic acid (or PFOA) is a surfactant with many industrial uses, such as making Teflon or Gore-Tex. It is also a suspected carcinogen.
Turns out that most people have 4-5 parts per billion of PFOA in their blood. But no one really knew where the PFOA originated. Some suspected overheated Teflon pots. This paper, Perfluorochemicals: Potential sources of and migration from food packaging, from researchers at the FDA, opened a lot of people’s eyes. Here is the abstract:
Perfluorochemicals are widely used in the manufacturing and processing of a vast array of consumer goods, including electrical wiring, clothing, household and automotive products. Furthermore, relatively small quantities of perfluorochemicals are also used in the manufacturing of food-contact substances that represent potential sources of oral exposure to these chemicals. The most recognizable products to consumers are the uses of perfluorochemicals in non-stick coatings (polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)) for cookware and also their use in paper coatings for oil and moisture resistance. Recent epidemiology studies have demonstrated the presence of two particular perfluorochemicals, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in human serum at very low part per billion levels. These perfluorochemicals are biopersistent and are the subject of numerous studies investigating the many possible sources of human exposure. Among the various uses of these two chemicals, PFOS is a residual impurity in some paper coatings used for food contact and PFOA is a processing aid in the manufacture of PTFE used for many purposes including non-stick cookware. Little information is available on the types of perfluorochemicals that have the potential to migrate from perfluoro coatings into food. One obstacle to studying migration is the difficulty in measuring perfluorochemicals by routine conventional analytical techniques such as GC/MS or LC-UV. Many perfluorochemicals used in food-contact substances are not detectable by these conventional methods. As liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) develops into a routine analytical technique, potential migrants from perfluoro coatings can be more easily characterized. In this paper, data will be presented on the types of perfluoro chemicals that are used in food packaging and cookware. Additionally, research will be presented on the migration or potential for migration of these chemicals into foods or food simulating liquids. Results from migration tests show mg kg-1 amounts of perfluoro paper additives/coatings transfer to food oil. Analysis of PTFE cookware shows residual amounts of PFOA in the low µg kg-1 range. PFOA is present in microwave popcorn bag paper at amounts as high as 300 µg kg-1.
You can download the paper and have a look at it. They show that very little PFOA migrates onto food from non-stick pans, even when the pans are abused. But it can migrate from the paper-coating in a microwave popcorn bag into the oil, which ends up on the popcorn we eat. Actually, what probably is important is that we ingest other types of fluorocarbons and they are converted to PFOA, which complicates things.
Eating only 10 bags of microwave popcorn a year would be enough to account for 20% of the total body load. Since Americans eat about 160 million bags of microwave popcorn a year, there is a lot entering our bodies. And uneaten popcorn ends up in our trash, along with PFOA.
But if you go to the EPA page about PFOA, there is no mention of microwave popcorn bags. They mention that Teflon is not harmful and that they see no reason for anyone to worry. Here is the EPA’s answer to the question Are there steps that consumers can take to reduce their exposure to PFOA?
At present, there are no steps that EPA recommends that consumers take to reduce exposures to PFOA because the sources of PFOA in the environment and the pathways by which people are exposed are not known. Given the scientific uncertainties, EPA has not yet made a determination as to whether PFOA poses an unreasonable risk to the public. At the present time, EPA does not believe there is any reason for consumers to stop using any consumer or industrial related products because of concerns about PFOA. EPA does not have any indication that the public is being exposed to PFOA through the use of Teflon®-coated or other trademarked nonstick cookware. Teflon® and other trademarked products are not PFOA.
PFOA stands for perfluorooctanoic acid, a synthetic (man-made) chemical that does not occur naturally in the environment. PFOA is sometimes called “C8.” Companies use PFOA to make fluoropolymers, substances with special properties that have thousands of important manufacturing and industrial applications. Consumer products made with fluoropolymers include non-stick cookware and breathable, all-weather clothing. These products are not PFOA, however.
See anything interesting. The EPA does not answer the question that it asked itself! The question was not whether the EPA believed that people SHOULD reduce their exposure. It was how they COULD.
Now scroll to the bottom of the question page. Updates on Friday, June 27th 2008. So, the latest information from the EPA does nothing to help us lower our exposure to PFOA.
And it appears that more of these are a problem than just PFOA. And that PFOA can be aerosolized and dispersed into the air.
So, perhaps even refusing to eat microwave popcorn will not reduce our intake of these compounds. Well, at least Dupont has said it will voluntarily stop production of these compounds by 2015.
Technorati Tags: Environment, Health, Science
