Like many people, I appreciate a good restaurant meal, yet I worry about chemicals that could harm our health - phthalates. Eating at restaurants, cafeterias, and fast food outlets can raise your levels of this family of chemicals, which are used in food packaging and processing materials. Unfortunately, they may interfere with our hormones and have been tied to a wide range of health problems.
Dining Out and Phthalates
Let’s examine the first study to compare phthalate exposure among people who reported dining out versus those who ate home-cooked meals. Those who reported eating more restaurant, fast food, and cafeteria meals had phthalate levels nearly 35 percent higher than those who mostly ate food bought at the grocery store.
“This study suggests food prepared at home is less likely to contain high levels of phthalates, chemicals linked to fertility problems, pregnancy complications and other health issues,” says senior author Ami Zota, ScD, MS, an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health at Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) at the George Washington University. “Our findings suggest that dining out may be an important, and previously under-recognized source of exposure to phthalates for the U.S. population.”
Lead author Julia Varshavsky, PhD, MPH, who did the work while she was at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, Zota, and their colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collected between 2005 and 2014. The 10,253 participants in the study were asked to recall what they ate and where their food came from in the previous 24 hours. The researchers then analyzed the links between what people ate and the levels of phthalate break-down products found in each participant’s urine sample.
What the Study Found
The team found that 61 percent of participants reported dining out the previous day. The researchers also found:
• The association between phthalate exposure and dining out was significant for all age groups but the magnitude of association was highest for teenagers;
• Adolescents who were high consumers of fast food and other food purchased outside the home had 55 percent higher levels of phthalates compared to those who only consumed food at home;
• Certain foods, and especially cheeseburgers and other sandwiches, were associated with increased levels of phthalates — but only if they were purchased at a fast-food outlet, restaurant or cafeteria. The study found that sandwiches consumed at fast food outlets, restaurants or cafeterias were associated with 30 percent higher phthalate levels in all age groups.
“Pregnant women, children and teens are more vulnerable to the toxic effects of hormone-disrupting chemicals, so it’s important to find ways to limit their exposures,” says Varshavsky, who is now a postdoctoral scientist at the University of California, San Francisco. “Future studies should investigate the most effective interventions to remove phthalates from the food supply.”
A previous study by Zota and colleagues suggested that fast food may expose consumers to higher levels of phthalates. That study found that people who ate the most fast food, burgers, fries and other foods, had phthalate levels that were as much as 40 percent higher than people who rarely ate such foods.
The new study looked more broadly at dining out — not just at fast-food outlets — and found that it was significantly associated with increased exposure to phthalates. The authors say the findings are worrisome because two-thirds of the U.S. population eats at least some food outside the home daily.
Where Do Phthalates Come From?
Phthalates are present in many products, including take-home boxes, food-handling gloves, food processing equipment, and other items used to prepare restaurant, cafeteria, and fast food meals. Earlier research indicates these chemicals can migrate from plastic containers or wrapping into food.
If confirmed by further research, these findings suggest that people who love dining out may be getting a side of phthalates with their entrée.
Cooking at home may be one way to limit exposure to these harmful chemicals. “Preparing food at home may represent a win-win for consumers,” adds Zota. “Home cooked meals can be a good way to reduce sugar, unhealthy fats and salt. And this study suggests it may not have as many harmful phthalates as a restaurant meal.”
At the same time, phthalate contamination of the food supply also represents a larger public health problem, one that must be addressed by policymakers. Zota and Woodruff’s previous research shows that policy actions, such as bans, can help reduce human exposure to harmful phthalates. I’m Dr. Michael Hunter.
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I received an undergraduate degree from Harvard, a medical degree from Yale, and completed a residency in radiation oncology at the University of Pennsylvania. I have been blessed to be named a “top doctor” in Seattle Magazine, US News & World Report, Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, 425 Magazine, and WA magazine. On multiple occasions, readers of the Kirkland Advertiser have voted me the top doctor (in any field) in the region. I help individuals with cancer at Evergreen Hospital, outside Seattle. Any information provided herein is not to serve as a substitute for the good judgment of your valued health care provider. Thank you.
References
1 Julia Varshavsky et al. Dietary sources of cumulative phthalates exposure among the U.S. general population in NHANES 2005-2014. Environment International, 2018
George Washington University. “Dining out associated with increased exposure to harmful chemicals called phthalates: New study finds burgers and other foods consumed at restaurants, fast food outlets or cafeterias, associated with higher levels of phthalates.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 March 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180329095722.
