Plastic containers can contain PFAS, and it's getting into food

Researchers are adding to their list of consumer products that contain PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a toxic class of fluorine compounds known as "forever chemicals".

In a new study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, fluorinated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic containers—used for household cleaners, pesticides, personal care products and, potentially, food packaging—tested positive for PFAS.

Following a report conducted by the EPA that demonstrated this type of container contributed high levels of PFAS to a pesticide, this research demonstrates the first measurement of the ability of PFAS to leach from the containers into food as well as the effect of temperature on the leaching process. Results also showed the PFAS were capable of migrating from the fluorinated containers into food, resulting in a direct route of significant exposure to the hazardous chemicals, which have been linked to several health issues including prostate, kidney and testicular cancers, low birth weight, immunotoxicity and thyroid disease.

It's important to note that these types of containers are not intended for food storage, but there is nothing preventing them from being used for food storage at the moment. Although not all HDPE plastic is fluorinated, the researchers noted, it's often impossible for a consumer to know whether a container has had that treatment. And indeed, they added, if substances like pesticides are stored in these containers, and then are used on agricultural crops, these same PFAS will get into human food sources that way.

PFAS is often used in association with stain- or water-resistant products.

While these materials generally stay in the container wall, the manufacturing process can generate lots of smaller PFAS molecules, which are not polymers. Experiments were designed to measure the ability of these chemicals to migrate from the container to samples of different foods and solvents.

Analysis of the containers found parts-per-billion levels of PFAS that could migrate into both solvents and food matrices in as little as one week.

Now, consider that not only do we know that the chemicals are migrating into the substances stored in them, but that the containers themselves work their way back into the environment through landfills. PFAS doesn't biodegrade. It doesn't go away. Once these chemicals are used, they get into the groundwater, they get into our biological systems, and they cause significant health problems.

Heather D. Whitehead et al, Directly Fluorinated Containers as a Source of Perfluoroalkyl Carboxylic Acids, Environmental Science & Technology Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.3c00083