(27-11-10) Microwave popcorn contains dangerous chemical

by S. L. Baker, features writer

(NaturalNews) Would you like salt, butter -- and a helping of perfluorinated
carboxylic acids (PFCAs) with your popcorn? You may say "yes" to the first two
ingredients and "certainly not!" to the last one. But the problem is, if you
are eating microwaved popcorn or packaged snack foods, you are most likely
getting dosed with these potentially toxic chemicals without any choice.

PFCAs, the best known of which is perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), have been
found to accumulate in the blood of people, as well as in wildlife, worldwide.
PFOAs are the breakdown products of chemicals used to make non-stick and water-
resistant and stain-repellant products that coat kitchen pans, some clothing
and food packaging. In research just reported in Environmental Health
Perspectives, University of Toronto (U of T) scientists have concluded PFCAs,
which are found in virtually all junk food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags,
migrate into food and are then ingested by people.

No one knows exactly what the long-term health risks are from exposure to
these chemicals. But earlier this year, Japanese scientists at Osaka University
published an animal study in the journal Prostaglandins, Leucotrines and
Essential Fatty Acids showing that PPCAs impact the function of platelets --
components of blood that are important for regulating bleeding and clotting in
the body.

"We suspected that a major source of human PFCA exposure may be the
consumption and metabolism of polyfluoroalkyl phosphate esters or PAPs,"
Jessica D'eon, a graduate student in the U of T Department of Chemistry, said
in a statement to the media. "PAPs are applied as grease proofing agents to
paper food contact packaging such as fast food wrappers and microwave popcorn
bags."

For their U of T study, D'eon and Scott Mabury, the lead researcher and a
professor in the U of T Department of Chemistry, exposed rats to PAPs either
orally or by injection. Then the animals were monitored for a period of three
weeks to document the concentrations of the PAPs and PFCA metabolites,
including PFOA, in their blood. Because human exposure to PAPs was calculated
by the scientists in an earlier study, the research team used the PAP
concentrations observed in human blood together with the PAP and PFCA
concentrations observed in the rats to come up with figures on human PFOA
exposure from PAP metabolism.

"We found the concentrations of PFOA from PAP metabolism to be significant and
concluded that the metabolism of PAPs could be a major source of human exposure
to PFOA, as well as other PFCAs," Mabury said in the press statement. "This
discovery is important because we would like to control human chemical
exposure, but this is only possible if we understand the source of this
exposure."

Mabury pointed out that some people claim the contamination of humans with
PFCAs is simply the result of exposure to past chemical exposure, instead of
chemicals currently found in food wrappers and home products. But the U of T
research shows that's a false assumption.

"In this study we clearly demonstrate that the current use of PAPs in food
contact applications does result in human exposure to PFCAs, including PFOA. We
cannot tell whether PAPs are the sole source of human PFOA exposure or even the
most important, but we can say un equivocally that PAPs are a source and the
evidence from this study suggests this could be significant,"Mabury concluded.

Editor's note: NaturalNews is opposed to the use of animals in medical
experiments that expose them to harm. We present these findings in protest of
the way in which they were acquired.

For more information:
http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...

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