Pollution Chemical giants hid dangers of ‘forever chemicals’ in food packaging

The chemicals, called 6:2 FTOH, are now linked to a range of serious health issues, and Americans are still being exposed to them

The US Food and Drug Administration denied its oversight had been lax but said more studies were needed to draw conclusions about the safety of short chain PFAS.

Tom Perkins
Wed 12 May 2021 07.00 EDT

Chemical giants DuPont and Daikin knew the dangers of a PFAS compound widely used in food packaging since 2010, but hid them from the public and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), company studies obtained by the Guardian reveal.

The chemicals, called 6:2 FTOH, are now linked to a range of serious health issues, and Americans are still being exposed to them in greaseproof pizza boxes, carryout containers, fast-food wrappers, and paperboard packaging.


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The companies initially told the FDA that the compounds were safer and less likely to accumulate in humans than older types of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals” and submitted internal studies to support that claim.

But Daikin withheld a 2009 study that indicated toxicity to lab rats’ livers and kidneys, while DuPont in 2012 did not alert the FDA or public to new internal data that indicated that the chemical stays in animals’ bodies for much longer than initially thought.

Learn More: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/12/chemical-giants-hid-dangers-pfas-forever-chemicals-food-packaging-dupont