Common plastic food packaging found to contain 9,936 harmful chemicals

You grab a pre-made sandwich from the fridge, tear off the clear wrap, and toss the wrapper without a second thought. Yet that throwaway plastic film contains thousands of chemicals that can move into your lunch, enter your gut, and settle into your bloodstream.

Scientists have known for years that additives such as bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates leach from containers, but recent studies show the list of migrating chemicals is far longer.

The longer food rests against plastic, the more time those molecules have to move, and a microwave zap or a sun-soaked picnic only speeds the process.

Tangled mix of chemicals in plastics

Plastics start as long polymer chains, but manufacturers tweak them with colorants, softeners, heat stabilizers, and other agents so the material bends, flexes, or shines on command.

Impurities, leftovers from production, and by-products that form as the plastic ages or cracks add to the list, creating a mixture even chemists struggle to map.

None of these extra molecules are firmly locked in place. Heat, grease, ultraviolet light, and mechanical stress let them slip out.

This is why food-contact articles like bags, trays, squeeze bottles, and bottle liners top the list of concern. The warm interior of a delivery truck or the jet of steam from a dishwasher can do the job.

Thousands of chemicals, one sandwich bag

“We found as many as 9936 different chemicals in a single plastic product used as food packaging,” noted Martin Wagner, a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU’s) Department of Biology.

His team examined 36 everyday items sold in the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Germany, and Norway, running high-resolution mass spectrometry screens to identify additives and breakdown products.

The researchers also exposed cultured human cells to extracts from those items.

“In most of these plastic products, we found chemicals that can affect the secretion of hormones and metabolism,” Wagner explained.

Those cellular changes line up with national biomonitoring surveys showing BPA and phthalates in more than 90 percent of Americans, a prevalence mirrored in Europe and Asia.

Hormones and plastic chemicals

Hormones carry instructions between glands and organs. When those instructions are garbled, essential cellular functions such as growth, reproduction, and energy use can falter.

In a second experiment, the NTNU group tested mixtures of plastic chemicals against 82 G-protein-coupled receptors – molecules that handle many of the body’s incoming signals.

“We identified 11 chemical combinations from plastic products that affect these signal receptors,” said Associate Professor Wagner.

Even small tweaks to those pathways can ripple outward. A lab analysis linked phthalate exposure to about 350,000 cardiovascular-related deaths worldwide in 2018, with middle-aged adults carrying the heaviest burden.

The authors warned that phthalates may increase risks tied to obesity and high blood pressure, suggesting the true health toll could be higher.

Beyond BPA and phthalates

When BPA drew fire, manufacturers shifted to related chemicals such as bisphenol S and bisphenol F.

A 2024 study found these replacements cause the same cellular disruptions linked to obesity and diabetes, challenging the comfort offered by “BPA-free” labels on water bottles and baby cups.

With more than 13,000 known plastic chemicals – and many still unlisted – scientists say a substance-by-substance approach cannot keep up.

“These and previous findings show that plastic exposes us to toxic chemicals. They support the theory that we need to redesign plastic to make it safer,” Wagner continued.

Research teams are now testing plant-based polymers that break down quickly yet still block oxygen and moisture, two qualities valued by food producers.

Global momentum for safer plastics

Negotiators from 175 countries met in Ottawa last year to shape a United Nations treaty aimed at ending plastic pollution “from source to sea.”

Talks focused on additive databases and phase-outs for the most hazardous compounds, recognizing that pollution begins long before a bottle reaches the ocean.

Delegates hope to finalize text at a fifth session later this year, setting the stage for formal adoption in 2026.

While the treaty inches ahead, some regulators are moving on their own. The European Chemicals Agency has listed dozens of plasticizers as substances of very high concern, and several U.S. states now ban BPA in food-contact materials.

Industry trade groups, meanwhile, are building open registries of additives to anticipate stricter disclosure rules, signaling that even manufacturers see change on the horizon.

What happens now?

Researchers are racing to map the many unknown plastic chemicals that standard tests miss.

High-resolution mass spectrometry, machine-learning models that predict biological activity, and expanding open databases are shrinking that blind spot, but laws often trail the lab work by years.

In the meantime, practical steps can trim exposure: choosing fresh or frozen foods over canned, microwaving leftovers in glass, swapping scratched non-stick pans for stainless steel, and airing out that new-car smell before long drives.

Small moves matter, because evidence suggests risk rises with every sip from a soft plastic bottle and every bite that rides down a plastic-lined conveyor. The wrapper may be tossed in seconds, but its chemistry can linger in the body for years.

The full study was published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

—–

Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates. 

Check us out on EarthSnap, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

—–