You know that eating fast food is not good for you, but now you have a new reason to avoid it. It turns out that the wrapper used for fast food products are toxic. (the chemical is also found in microwavable popcorn....microwave popcorn in a paper bag instead......http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Popcorn)
Perfluoroalkyls, which are chemicals used to keep grease from leaking through fast food wrappers, are being ingested by people through their food and showing up as contaminants in blood. Perfluoroalkyls includes perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). According to recent survey results, these chemicals can be detected in nearly all people in the US, including children! The chemicals can leech into your food, then into your bloodstream, where it takes about four years for the level in the body to go down by half, even if no more is taken in. These chemicals can, and do, transfer from the wrappers into the food, and that food wrappers are in fact a source of human exposure to PFCAs, including PFOA.
The Many Dangers of these chemicals..............
These chemicals are part of an expanding group of chemicals commonly referred to as "gender-bending" chemicals, because they can disrupt your endocrine system and affect your sex hormones. But researchers have also linked them to a range of other health dangers.
In animal studies, PFOA has been associated with:
- "Significant increases in treatment related deaths" in rat offspring at doses that did not affect the mothers
- Serious changes in the weight of various organs, including the brain, prostate, liver, thymus, and kidneys
- The deaths of a significant number of rat pups of mothers that had been exposed to PFOA
- Damage to the pituitary at all doses in female rat offspring (The pituitary secretes hormones that regulate growth, reproduction, and many metabolic processes. Change in pituitary size is associated with toxicity)
- Tumor development after prolonged exposure
Other studies have linked various PFC's to:
- Infertility -- A study published in the journal Human Reproduction lasts year found that both PFOA and PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate), dramatically increased the odds of infertility. PFOS increased the risk of infertility anywhere from 70 to 134 percent, while PFOA was linked to a 60 to 154 percent increase in the chance of infertility.
- Thyroid disease -- A study published in May of this year in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that PFOA can damage your thyroid function. Individuals with the highest PFOA concentrations were more than twice as likely to report current thyroid disease, compared to those with the lowest PFOA concentrations. Your thyroid contains thyroglobulin protein, which binds to iodine to form hormones, which in turn influence essentially every organ, tissue and cell in your body. Thyroid hormones are also required for growth and development in children. Thyroid disease, if left untreated, can lead to heart disease, infertility, muscle weakness, and osteoporosis.
- Cancer -- PFOA has been associated with tumors in at least four different organs in animal tests (liver, pancreas, testicles and mammary glands in rats), and has been associated with increases in prostate cancer in PFOA plant workers. The EPA has ruled PFCs as "likely carcinogens," and has stated that PFOA "poses developmental and reproductive risks to humans."
- Immune system problems -- Several studies by scientists in Sweden indicate that PFC's have an adverse effect on your immune system. As described in a report on PFC's by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), PFOA was found to decrease all immune cell subpopulations studied, in the thymus and spleen, and caused immunosupression.
- Increased LDL cholesterol levels – A recent study in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine implicates both PFOA and PFOS. Children and teens with higher PFOA levels had higher levels of total cholesterol and LDL or "bad" cholesterol, while PFOS was associated with increased total cholesterol, including both LDL cholesterol and HDL or "good" cholesterol.
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