Plastic food packaging has a negative impact on human health

Plastic may change metabolism and influence puberty

Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Steinar Brandslet found that plastic food packaging may contain harmful chemicals that affect on hormones and metabolism.

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Plastic — a very complex material that may contain many different chemicals, some of which may be harmful to humans. This also applies to plastic food packaging.

“We found up to 9,936 different chemicals in a single plastic product used as food packaging,” — said NTNU Department of Biology Professor Martin Wagner. The scientist has been studying the chemicals used in the production of plastic products for several years.

During the study, the scientists studied 36 different plastic products that are used for food packaging. These products were sourced from five countries: the United States of America, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Germany and Norway.

“In most of these plastic products, we found chemicals that can affect hormone secretion and metabolism,” — explained Wagner.

Hormones are messengers in the body. They affect the interaction of various organs. Metabolism — it is the sum of the various processes that allow the body to use nutrients to provide the body with the energy and substances it needs to function.

In the study, the researchers also looked at different combinations of chemicals used in plastic to see the effect they had on G protein-coupled receptors. These receptors play an important role in signaling in the body.

“We identified 11 chemical combinations from plastic products that affect these signaling receptors,” — explains Martin Wagner.

Scientists have found new ways in which these chemical mixtures can influence signaling in the body: “These and previous results show that plastic exposes us to toxic chemicals. «They support the theory that we need to recycle plastic to make it safer.»

It was previously unclear whether chemicals could be released into the environment under normal conditions or whether they remained bound in plastic. However, several years ago, another research group proved that most plastic products leach chemicals when immersed in water.