"More Than 3,000 Chemicals From Food Packaging Have Infiltrated Our Bodies"

"A new study shows the extent to which chemicals are finding their way into human bodies."

"Shrink-wrap sealed around a piece of raw meat. Takeout containers filled with restaurant leftovers. Plastic bottles filled with soft drinks.

These are just a few types of food packaging that surround humans every day. And a new study released Monday shows the chemical toll of all that wrapping — and how it might affect the human body.

Researchers from Switzerland and other countries discovered that of the roughly 14,000 known chemicals in food packaging, 3,601 — or about 25 percent — have been found in the human body, whether in samples of blood, hair or breast milk."

Shannon Osaka reports for the Washington Post September 16, 2024.