According to a new study, fast food contains a hormone-disrupting chemical called phthalate.
Phthalates have been the subject of controversy for a while. According to Tox Town, an environmental website from the National Institutes of Health, phthalates are used to make plastic and vinyl more flexible.
Phthalates are also used in cosmetics, wood finishes, adhesives, and other industrial products. So the fact that it is being consumed in fast food is really scary.
The researchers looked at fast food consumption and levels of phthalates in the participants’ urine. The data they used was collected by the CDC between 2003-2010.
One-third of the study participants claimed that they ate fast fodo within the last day. Those who ate a lot of fast food during that time had 23.8% higher levels of DEHP 39% higher levels of DiNP. DEHP and DiNP are both types of phthalates.
Those who ate less fast food (fewer than 35% of their calories) had 15.5% and 24.8% increases respectively.
“There are increasing recommendations from scientific and clinical bodies suggesting the general population and vulnerable populations like pregnant women reduce their exposure to phthalates, but up to now there have been very few sources that people can have control of,” said Ami R. Zota, assistant professor of environmental and occupational health at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health and lead author of the study.
“This study shows that fast food may be an especially important source of phthalate exposure,” said Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program.
The researchers concluded: “Fast food may be a source of exposure to DEHP and DiNP. These results, if confirmed, could inform individual and regulatory exposure reduction strategies.”
The study showing that fast food contains a hormone-disrupting chemical was published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
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REFERENCES:
1. “Fast Food Serves up Phthalates, Study Suggests.” CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
2. “Recent Fast Food Consumption and Bisphenol A and Phthalates Exposures among the U.S. Population in NHANES, 2003–2010.” EHP. Environmental Health Perspectives, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
3. “Phthalates.” Tox Town. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
