Letter

Fluorinated Compounds in U.S. Fast Food Packaging

Silent Spring Institute, Newton, Massachusetts 02460, United States
California Department of Toxic Substances Control, Sacramento, California 95814, United States
§ Green Science Policy Institute, Berkeley, California 94709, United States
Department of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
Environmental Working Group, Washington, D.C. 20009, United States
# National Exposure Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711, United States
Chemistry Department, Hope College, Holland, Michigan 49423, United States
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States
@ Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, United States
Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett., 2017, 4 (3), pp 105–111
DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00435
Publication Date (Web): February 1, 2017
Copyright © 2017 American Chemical Society
*Phone: +1-617-332-4288. Fax: +1-617-332-4284. E-mail: schaider@silentspring.org.
ACS AuthorChoice - This is an open access article published under an ACS AuthorChoice License, which permits copying and redistribution of the article or any adaptations for non-commercial purposes.

Abstract

Abstract Image

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are highly persistent synthetic chemicals, some of which have been associated with cancer, developmental toxicity, immunotoxicity, and other health effects. PFASs in grease-resistant food packaging can leach into food and increase dietary exposure. We collected ∼400 samples of food contact papers, paperboard containers, and beverage containers from fast food restaurants throughout the United States and measured total fluorine using particle-induced γ-ray emission (PIGE) spectroscopy. PIGE can rapidly and inexpensively measure total fluorine in solid-phase samples. We found that 46% of food contact papers and 20% of paperboard samples contained detectable fluorine (>16 nmol/cm2). Liquid chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis of a subset of 20 samples found perfluorocarboxylates, perfluorosulfonates, and other known PFASs and/or unidentified polyfluorinated compounds (based on nontargeted analysis). The total peak area for PFASs was higher in 70% of samples (10 of 14) with a total fluorine level of >200 nmol/cm2 compared to six samples with a total fluorine level of <16 nmol/cm2. Samples with high total fluorine levels but low levels of measured PFASs may contain volatile PFASs, PFAS polymers, newer replacement PFASs, or other fluorinated compounds. The prevalence of fluorinated chemicals in fast food packaging demonstrates their potentially significant contribution to dietary PFAS exposure and environmental contamination during production and disposal.

The Supporting Information is available free of charge on the ACS Publications website at DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00435.

  • A list of PFASs approved by the U.S. FDA for food contact materials, additional information about analytical methods, QA/QC results, regional comparisons of PIGE detection frequencies, and LC/MS results (PDF)

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Received 16 November 2016
Date accepted 23 December 2016
Published online 1 February 2017
Published in print 14 March 2017
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