Human and Environmental Health Issues of Food Packaging ...

P a r t n e r I n g f o r p e r f e c t p a c k a g I n g s o l u t I o n sHuman and Environmental Health Issues of FoodPackagingJane Muncke, PhD

Definition of Sustainable PackagingSustainable Packaging:• Is beneficial, safe & healthy for individuals and communitiesthroughout its life cycle;• Meets market criteria for performance and cost;• Is sourced, manufactured, transported, and recycled using renewableenergy;• Maximizes the use of renewable or recycled source materials;• Is manufactured using clean production technologies and bestpractices;• Is made from materials healthy in all probable end-of-life scenarios;• Is physically designed to optimize materials and energy;• Is effectively recovered and utilized in biological and/or industrialcradle to cradle cycles.(No ranking implied by the order of criteria)source: http://www.sustainablepackaging.org/pdf/Definition%20of%20Sustainable%20Packaging%2010-15-05%20final.pdf22 October 2009 2

Ideal Food Packaging Fulfills High Demands...• protects food from outside influences• protects food from damage• provides information to consumers• is convenient• permitts product traceability• allows product marketing• is tamper-proof• does not affect the food‘s quality• is healthy• can be produced with minimal environmentalimpact (chemical pollution, energy, emissions)photo: J. Muncke• ...?22 October 2009 3

economical/industrial• low cost• good handling• availability, marketing•...• healthy• user-friendly design• product information•...societalecological• non-toxic chemicals• recyclable• low emissions•...idealpackaging22 October 2009 4

Health Risk of Food Packaging ChemicalsRisk = Exposure · Effect22 October 2009 6

Health Risk of Food Packaging ChemicalsRisk = Exposure · EffectMigrationConsumption22 October 2009 7

Migration from Food Packaging into Food Depends on• Chemistry of food AND packaging:–pH– Fat content– Wetness/dryness– Organic carbon content•Temperature• Packaging size• Storage time22 October 2009 8

photo: J. Muncke 22 October 2009 9

Health Risk of Food Packaging ChemicalsRisk = Exposure · EffectMigrationConsumptionToxicity:short-termlong-term22 October 2009 10

photo: J. Muncke 22 October 2009 11

Paracelsus‘ ToxicologyParacelsus (1538): „The Third Defense“22 October 2009 12

Paracelsus‘ Toxicology Paradigm„What is there that is no poison? Allthings are poison and nothing (is)without poison. Solely, the dosedetermines that a thing is not apoison.“Paracelsus (1538: „The Third Defense“; translated from Old German in: Deichmann et al.(1986) Archives of Toxicology. 58: 207-213) photo: flickr.com22 October 2009 13

Chronic Diseases: Old vs.New Paradigmold:GENES cause DISEASEnew:GENES are influenced by ENVIRONMENTAL factors to cause DISEASE– Low-doses matter– Mixtures matter– Early development is particularly sensitive toenvironmental factors (timing matters)– Epigenetic changes affect diseasephoto: flickr.com22 October 2009 14

Environmental Hormones• Mimic biological effects of natural hormones• Also called Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals• „Xeno“ estrogens largest group: mimic estrogen• As important a threat to humanity as climate change• Most prominent exponent: Bisphenol A22 October 2009 15

BPA• bisphenol A• high production volume chemical• 1938: found to be estrogenic in vivophoto: flickr.com• 1953: polymerization with phosgene into polycarbonate (PC)• since 1958 industrial production and use• 2006: global production > 4Mio t (estimated)•use:– Polycarbonate Plastics 65-70%• CDs, DVDs; electronics, household appliances; baby bottles– Epoxy Resins 25-30%• Coatings, adhesives, electrical laminates, food+beverage can linings, metalclosures coatings– Other Uses 5%• Thermal paper, PVC+rubber additive, precursor for other chemicals, dentalsealantsFriends of the Earth Europe (2008); Horn and Schnieders (2008) Kunststoffe 10; Dodds and Lawson (1938) Proc. Royal Soc. London B, 125, 222-232.22 October 2009 16

Human Exposure to BPA• Carwile study 2009: 77 Harvard students– 1 week „washout“: no PC water bottles used fordrinking water– 1 week „intervention“: only PC water bottles used fordrinking waterRESULTS:Increase in BPA urinary concentration by67% during interventionUrinary level did not decrease below limitof detection during „washout“ weekCarwile et al. (2009) Env Health Perspectives 117 (9):1368-1372photo: flickr.com22 October 2009 17

Toxicity of BPA: Recent Studies• female, ovariectomized monkey• 50 µg BPA/kg body weight/d• 1 monthphoto: flickr.comreduced connections betweensynapses (nerve endings)same in Alzheimmer‘s,schizophrenia, mood disorderseffect at current FDI tolerabledaily intake (TDI) level for life timeexposurelimitations: dosing controlled byinternal pump, not dosed via foodgraph: Leranth et al. (2008) PNAS 105(37);22 October 2009 18

• 93% of USpopulation hasdetectable BPA• diabetes in ~8% ofUS population• no causalityLang et al.(2008) JAMA 300 (11); Diabetes http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/statistics/22 October 2009 19

BPA induces insulin in vivo at same low doselike estradiolsingle dose 10μg/kg bwhuman TDI 50 μg/kg bw/deffect at 20% of TDI chronic exposure canlead to insulin resistanceCirculating plasma insulin in fasted (12 hr) animals 30 min after the injection of vehicle, 10 µg/kg E2 or 10 μg/kg BPA(n = 8–16); *p = 0.024, and **p = 0.004 compared with vehicle. Error bars indicate SE.Alonso-Magdalena P. et al. (2006) EHP 114(1):106-1222 October 2009 20

Insulin resistance is at the beginning of manychronic diseases that are increasingBiddinger and Khan (2006) Annu. Rev. Physiol. 68:123-15822 October 2009 21

Does BPA cause obesity?• human fatty tissue (breast)• exposed to Estradiol (E2) orBPA effect at 1/100 below averagebody burdenHugo et al. (2008) Environ Health Perspectives 116:1642-164722 October 2009 22

Mixture Toxicity: „Something from Nothing“„Estrogenicity“Concentrations of testedchemicals are at individualNOEC (no observed effectconcentrations)Silva, E. et al. (2002) Env Sci Technol 36(8):1751-1756.22 October 2009 23

Developmental Origins of Adult Disease Hypothesis• maternal nutrition and exposure to chemicals influences fetaldevelopment (heart, brain)• environmental hormones can „reprogram“ how fat is stored, the immunesystem works, etc.• fetal exposure to environmental hormones can lead to diseases thatmanifest themselves in adult life August 2008: first prospective study how fetalchemical exposure affects childhood obesityBarker, DJ (2004) J Am Coll Nutr 23(6 Suppl):588S-595SMarkman S et al. (2008) PLoS ONE 3(2):e1674Newbold RR et al. (2007) Reprod Toxicol 23(3):290-296Newbold RR et al. (2007) Reprod Toxicol 24(2):253-258Roman GC (2007) J Neurol Sci 262(1-2):15-26Smink AN (2008) Acta Pediatrica 97(10):1465-9Rubin and Soto (2009) Mol Cell Endocrinol 304: 55-62.Midori-Horiuti et al (2009) Env Health Sci in pressphoto: R. Newbold22 October 2009 24

Human Exposure to Chemicals and Increasing ChronicDiseases:HUMANEXPOSURE:to?allergiestype 2diabetesEPIDEMIOLOGY:increase ofobesityneurodevelopmentaldiseaseshormonemediatedcancerstesticulardysgenesissyndrometestis♂infertilitybisphenol A......phthalatesDiOPDBP DiNPDEHPnonylphenolPFOAPFOSADHDautismbreastIs there a link?22 October 2009 25

The Future of Food Packaging Chemical Safety• Chemical contamination of food will continue to be an area ofconcern for regulators, industry and consumers• Improvements in chemical analysis will enhance chemicaldetection• More chemical contamination events likely due to increasingnumber and volume of imported chemicals used• New materials utilizing nanotechnologies are being developedbut toxicological effects need more evaluationJackson (2009). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 57; 8161-8170photo: flickr.com22 October 2009 26

The Endocrine Society 2009:“The evidence for adverse reproductive outcomes (infertility,cancers, malformations) from exposure to endocrine disruptingchemicals is strong, and there is mounting evidence for effectson other endocrine systems, including thyroid, neuroendocrine,obesity and metabolism, and insulin and glucose homeostasis.”“The Precautionary Principle is key to enhancing endocrine andreproductive health, and should be used to inform decisionsabout exposure to, and risk from, potential endocrinedisruptors.”Diamanti-Kandarakis et al. (2009) Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals. The Endocrine Society. http://www.endo-society.org/journals/scientificstatements/22 October 2009 27

Environmental Health Issues• High density of plastic in North PacificCentral Gyre• Environmental pollutant enrichment• Transfer of plastic-sorbed persistentenvironmental pollutants to organismsMoore C et al. (2001) Mar Pollut Bull 42(12):1297-1300Mato Y et al. (2001) Env Sci Technol 35(2):318-324www.algalita.orgTeuten EL et al. (2007) Env Sci Technol 41(22):7759-77642822 October 2009 28

Further Reading• „Our Stolen Future“ Colborn, Dumanoski, Myers 1996www.ourstolenfuture.org• „Slow Death by Rubber Duck“ Smith, Lourie 2008www.slowdeathbyrubberduck.com• Anastas and Zimmermann (2003) „Design through the 12 principles of greenengineering“ Environmental Science & Technology. 37:94A-101A.• Myers et al. (2009) „A clash of old and new scientific concepts in toxicity, withimportant implications for public health.“ Environmental Health Perspectives inpress http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2009/0900887/abstract.html• Muncke (2009) „Exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds via the foodchain: Is packaging a relevant source?” Science of the Total Environment.407:4549-4559.• www.choosingourfuture.org• www.chemicalshealthmonitor.org• www.contaminatedwithoutconsent.org• www.endocrinedisruption.com22 October 2009 29