Plastic Soup Foundation
  • The issue
      • Plastic Soup
      • What is plastic?
      • Plastic in the environment
      • Harm to animals
      • Health effects
      • Regulations
      • Bogus solutions
      • Responsibilities
      • Sustainable development
      • Facts & Figures
  • What we do
      • Health
      • Microplastics
      • Education
      • Plastic Waste
  • How you can help
      • Consumer
      • Business
      • Community
      • Kids
      • At school
  • Solutions
  • News
  • Donate
  • NL
  • EN
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
You are here: News Chemicals leach from food-grade plastic

Chemicals leach from food-grade plastic

Although labeled as food-safe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), some plastic bags can leach chemicals that are highly toxic and the toxicity can vary among products having the same label. Heather J. Hamlin and her team (University of Maine) illustrated this in a study published by the scientific journal Chemosphere.

Scientists investigated whether nonylphenol (NP, a common chemical used as a plasticizer in industry and commercial products) can leach from some plastic bags labeled as food-safe into their contents. They conducted an experiment using sea water and the tropical coral fish (pseudochromis fridmani). The fish are often used for hobby purposes and are usually transported in similar food-grade polyethylene plastic bags (PE1 and PE2). For comparison, fish were also kept in various containers including, glass bowls and Teflon bags.

After 48 hours:

  • Fish kept in plastic bags contained high concentrations of NP
  • Short and longterm survival of these fish decreased
  • All fish kept in PE2 perished by day eight, while all fish in the control treatment survived
  • There were no observed effects in fish kept within a glass bowl or a Teflon bag.

Plastic bags used in these experiments were made of food-grade plastics approved by US FDA and are considered as safe for storing and carrying food for consumption. However, the study at hand shows that although a product may have an identical label, the toxicity of products may vary considerably between manufacturers. NP-levels that are leached can vary depending on the plastic, posing a greater risk to the aquatic environment as well as to human health than previously thought.

Search

Categories

  • Types of plastic (3)
  • Press releases (16)
  • Beat the microbead (18)
  • Solutions (17)
  • Don't use balloons (3)
  • Gezondheidseffecten (60)
  • Animal cruelty (13)
  • sponsoring campaign (1)
  • Microbeads (28)
  • Sponsor actions (3)
  • Ocean Clean Wash (12)
  • About us (1)
  • Plastic Urban Mining (4)
  • Blogs (16)
  • My little plastic footprint (5)
  • Plastic Soup Awards (3)
  • Synthetic fibers (20)
  • Political plume (3)
  • actions frontpage (1)
  • nurdles (5)
  • Pressreleases (2)
  • Microplastics in cosmetics (2)
  • Junior (1)
  • No category (1)
  • News (550)
  • What can you do? (13)
  • Health Files (39)
  • Clean rivers (24)
  • Plastic soupermarket (2)
  • Trash hunters (54)
  • What is plastic soup? (12)
  • What to do with plastic waste? (12)

Subscribe to our newsletter

and stay informed about our activities!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Donate now and contribute

I'll donate € 5I'll donate € 10I'll donate € 15Other amount

More news

MICROPLASTICS APPEAR TO PROMOTE DEMENTIA

New research on the effects of microplastics on humans and other mammals shows significant behavioral changes.

Read more

Is the Plastic Soup smaller than we thought?

According to new research, the plastics soup is smaller than previously thought. Is this the good news we’ve been waiting for?

Read more

Plastic found in the human heart

Microplastics are present in human heart tissue, the first evidence has been found. It is becoming increasingly clear that plastic is dangerous to human health and the health of our planet.

Read more

Good news: bans (finally) in sight 

The government will investigate measures, including bans, to prevent certain plastic products from ending up as litter.

Read more

About us

  • Frontrunners
  • Mission & Vision
  • Working with Us
  • Annual Reports
  • Inquiries Press
  • Newsletter

Our approach

  • Business Community
  • Funds & Partners
  • Ambassadors
  • Plastic Soup Awards
  • Plastic Soup Atlas
  • Facts & Figures
DONATE
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • LinkedIn

  • YouTube

  • Contact

 
© Copyright - Plastic Soup Foundation
  • Contact
  • Privacy policy
  • GDPR Consent Settings
The Whole World in One Caribbean IslandZero plastic inside tops “Rank a Brand” list!
Scroll to top

GDPR settings

This website uses some cookies which are placed on your device. Your web browser stores these cookies when you visit our Website: www.plasticsoupfoundation.org. These cookies will be retrieved when you visit or use our Website again. This allows us to recognise you as a previous visitor/user.

x
Settings

Your privacy and this website...

This website uses some cookies which are placed on your device. Your web browser stores these cookies when you visit our Website: www.plasticsoupfoundation.org. These cookies will be retrieved when you visit or use our Website again. This allows us to recognise you as a previous visitor/user.

Functional technology enables a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in. No personalised information is collected.

See details

This consent is used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.

See details

This consent helps website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting.

See details
Forget my settings Settings have been forgotten