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> But these chemicals are in almost all food packaging, too. Can we please just go back to paper bags, wax paper and aluminum foil, thanks? The whole reason w
by bsder 4y ago
> But these chemicals are in almost all food packaging, too.
Can we please just go back to paper bags, wax paper and aluminum foil, thanks?
The whole reason we moved to these chemicals is that we needed to move away from the "chloro-" carbons which were ozone layer hazards precisely because they decomposed.
Although, as I understand it, the vast majority of the problems come from 1) the factories that make them simply dumping the waste products into the environment and 2) all the military installations that spray this garbage as fire suppression foam and just let it run into the soil.
Outlawing this stuff won't do jack if the military keeps spraying it around.
And the laws were already supposed to stop the factory just dumping their crap but didn't (see: https://www.startribune.com/rare-pfas-factory-shutdown-in-belgium-costs-3m/600164617/ https://www.startribune.com/rare-pfas-factory-shutdown-in-be...).
- kube-system 4y agoOlder packaging like paper poses less of a chemical concern than plastic packaging, but it poses more of a risk of food borne illness. Plastic have their downsides but they also are very good at keeping food safe.
- hgomersall 4y agoSo says the packaging industry. I'm yet to be convinced that plastic is required or even that it performs notably better than other more environmentally sustainable solutions.
- CommanderData 4y agoIn the short term. Long term plastics have been known causes of hormonal changes in the body and a host of issues. I'd take a slight increased risk of e.coli than generational deformaties. We've known about it for a long time, this article is from 2009: https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/on-men/2009/11/17/phthalates-threat-less-boy-more-girl https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/on-men/2009/11/1... Interestingly the science has been out there for more than a decade. But little is being done to regulate. I wonder why.
- ceph_ 4y agoThere was an article posted recently about a lab testing paper straws and finding pfas chemicals in nearly all of them. They're used for their water resistant properties. And there was no way to tell from the packaging.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- LargoLasskhyfv 4y agoAluminum isn't that good, either. Especially not when the contents are acidic. (Lazy first hit for aluminum health risk https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5651828/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5651828/ ) I'd opt for reusable glass containers in a few standardized sizes. Could also be made out of almost unbreakable stuff like it is used in all sorts of laboratories.