What's in Fast Food?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/fast-food-health_b_800297.html

Dr. Joseph Mercola
Physician and author
Posted: December 29, 2010 08:34 AM

A new study shows that toxicperfluoroalkyls, which are used in surface protection treatments and coatings to keep grease from leaking through fast food wrappers, are being ingested by people through their food and showing up as contaminants in blood.

Perfluoroalkyls are a hazardous class of stable, synthetic chemicals that repel oil, grease and water.

As reported by University of Toronto researchers, the chemicals studied in human blood, urine and feces were polyfluoroalkyl phosphate esters (PAPs), which are the breakdown products of the perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) used in coating the food wrappers. Scientists said the exposure to humans through this means "should be considered as a significant indirect source of PFCA."

That means you now have a new reason to avoid fast foods.

You may not realize it, but you and your family are continually exposed to perfluoroalkyls, which include perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS). And these chemicals can be detected in nearly everyone in the U.S.!

Besides food packaging and fast food wrappers, everyday sources of this exposure include: drinking water, dust, air, carpet and fabric protectors, flame retardants, non-stick pots and pans, stain-proof clothing, and even cord blood and breast milk.

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Contrary to the regulators' findings, we now know PFCs have many health dangers, including being part of a group of chemicals referred to as"gender-bending," because they can disrupt your endocrine system and sex hormones.

In animal studies, PFOA has also been associated with other health dangers such as:

* "Significant increases in treatment related deaths" in rat offspring at doses that did not affect the mothers.

* Serious changes in the weight of various organs, including brain, prostate, liver, thymus and kidneys.

* Deaths of a significant number of rat pups of mothers exposed to PFOA.

* Damage to the pituitary at all doses in female rat offspring (The pituitary secretes hormones that regulate growth, reproduction, and many metabolic processes. Change in pituitary size is associated with toxicity.)

* Tumor development after prolonged exposure.

Other studies have linked PFC's to:

* Infertility:

* Thyroid disease:

* Cancer:

* Immune system problems:

* Increased LDL cholesterol levels:

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