CHEMICALS LEACH FROM PACKAGING

Abstract

EARLIER THIS YEAR, when Germans were cracking open boxes of chocolate muesli—a common breakfast cereal in their country—it’s unlikely their thoughts slid to the chemical 4-methylbenzophenone, much less to the fact that this component of printing ink had slipped from the outside of the cardboard box and into the cereal. That is, until the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was asked to look into the matter. Open a cereal box or a carton of juice, breathe in an asthma drug from an inhaler, or pop an antihistamine pill out of a plastic pouch’s metal foil. You are probably thinking about the product you’re about to consume and not about its packaging—except, perhaps, for a twinge of regret about contributing to landfill waste. But here’s something to keep in mind: Even when the wrapping comes off, you inevitably ingest some of the container. Plastic, rubber, cardboard, metal, and glass packaging act as a barrier against all ...