The Food and Drug Administration has found high levels of PFAS in several grocery store products resulting from testing done by FDA researchers. Much of the meat and fish tested show at least double the current federal advisory level set for PFAS. The highest amounts of the chemical were found in samples of chocolate cake, nearly 250 times more than the listed federal guidelines. Researchers suggest that limited exposure to few contaminated products is unlikely to cause health problems, but prolonged exposures summed over a lifetime can collectively be associated with certain health risks.
Spokeswoman Tara Rabin of the FDA claims this contamination is unlikely to be a health concern, but the results raise alarm amongst stakeholders and other relevant authorities. The EPA has set advisory limits near a threshold of 70 parts per trillion for different forms of the contaminants, but, unsatisfied by federal action, several states have progressed toward regulating the contaminants independently.
The contaminants are now being called “forever chemicals” due to their long degradation period, which can be up to thousands of years, and their accumulation capability in the human body. Researchers note that additional investigation on the level and range of PFAS in the environment is necessary to propose a viable solution to the concerns presented in the FDA’s findings.
