--- title: Here's Another Reason to Avoid Fast Food description: The paper fast food comes packaged in may contain chemicals linked to serious health problems. canonical: https://time.com/4657397/fast-food-chemicals-toxins/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-02T15:05:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:05:15.740Z article:section: Health og:title: Here's Another Reason to Avoid Fast Food og:description: It doesn't even have to do with fat content og:url: https://time.com/4657397/fast-food-chemicals-toxins/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf83b59cf825cbbff/69889bc95f570f4f28b21af5/fast-food-nurition-facts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5200 og:image:height: 2925 og:image:alt: Fast food hamburgers og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Another Reason to Avoid Fast Food twitter:description: It doesn't even have to do with fat content twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf83b59cf825cbbff/69889bc95f570f4f28b21af5/fast-food-nurition-facts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Another Reason to Avoid Fast Food > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Health.com /Amanda MacMillan](https://time.com/author/health-com-amanda-macmillan/) ## Health.com /Amanda MacMillan Feb 2, 2017 3:05 PM UTC  Eating burgers from a fast food chain. Eating burgers from a fast food chain.Getty Images by [Health.com /Amanda MacMillan](https://time.com/author/health-com-amanda-macmillan/) ## Health.com /Amanda MacMillan Feb 2, 2017 3:05 PM UTC Add this to the list of reasons a drive-thru meal isn’t good for you: the paper it comes packaged in may contain chemicals linked to serious health problems, according to a new study. The Silent Spring Institute, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and the Green Science Policy Institute teamed up with researchers at the University of Notre Dame and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to analyze more than 400 wrappers and containers from [27 fast-food chains](http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00435) throughout the country. About half the wrappers tested contained flourine, a marker for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). PFASs (formerly called PFCs) make food wrappers and boxes resistant to grease. (People are also exposed to PFASs in certain types of nonstick cookware, waterproof clothing, and stain-resistant products.) Previous studies have linked PFAS exposure to [fertility](http://www.health.com/infertility) and [thyroid problems](http://www.health.com/thyroid), developmental delays in children, increased cancer risk, and other outcomes. **_Health.com_**_:_ [_Want more news you can use? Sign up for our newsletter_](http://www.health.com/mind-body/healthy-living-newsletter) Further analysis of 20 samples found that perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)—a long-chain PFAS that’s been [linked to heart disease](http://www.health.com/news/pfoa-heart-disease) and is currently being phased out in the United States—was among the fluoridated compounds present. This study only looked at the presence of PFASs in the wrappers themselves, and not in the food they contained, or in the people consuming them. But previous research has suggested that PFASs have the potential to leach into food. “It’s difficult to know how much will actually migrate, because it depends on temperature, the type of food, how long the food is in contact with the paper, and what specific PFASs you’re talking about,” says lead author Laurel Schaider, PhD, an environmental chemist at Silent Spring Institute. **_Health.com_**_:_ [_24 Things You Should Never Order When You Eat Out_](http://www.health.com/nutrition/worst-restaurant-foods/?xid=time) Research has shown that long-chain PFASs can remain in the body for years. They can also accumulate in landfills when products like food wrappers are discarded, where they can leach into the environment and [affect drinking water](http://www.health.com/family/contaminated-water-safety), the authors say. You can’t tell by looking at a wrapper or food container whether it contains PFASs, says Schaider; they’re even currently allowed in compostable materials. So the best way to avoid it in fast-food wrappers is to simply avoid fast food. (That’s especially important for kids, she adds, who are more sensitive to harmful chemicals.) “I think we all already have some reasons to reduce how much fast food we consume, and this may be another one,” she says. “If you’re going to eat it, you could try to get the food out of the wrapper as quickly as possible—that might help a little bit,” she says. The study was published today in the journal _Environmental Science & Technology Letters_ _._ The EWG also published a [companion report](http://www.ewg.org/research/many-fast-food-wrappers-still-coated-pfcs-kin-carcinogenic-teflon-chemical), recommending that all fast-food companies stop using fluorinated compounds in their packaging, and that the Food and Drug Administration further restrict their use in products that have contact with food. The EWG report also suggests that consumers reduce their exposure to PFASs by eating fresh food and preparing meals at home, avoiding the use of paper tableware, and not buying microwave popcorn. ([Make it on the stove](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20843728,00.html) instead.) Consumers can also call or write to fast-food chains they frequent, says Schaider, letting companies know that they don’t want hazardous fluoridated chemicals in their food wrappers. And they can look out for other [popular sources of PFASs](http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20965100,00.html), like nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpet and furniture treatments. “We can be exposed to these chemicals through many different pathways, and all those exposures can add up,” she says. “Even if we can’t avoid all of them, every little bit can help.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.health.com/food/fast-food-chemicals-in-wrappers-pfas/?xid=time) _originally appeared on_ [_Health.com_](http://www.health.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4657397/fast-food-chemicals-toxins/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4657397/fast-food-chemicals-toxins/"},"headline":"Here's Another Reason to Avoid Fast Food","datePublished":"2017-02-02T15:05:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:05:15.740Z","description":"It doesn't even have to do with fat content","url":"https://time.com/4657397/fast-food-chemicals-toxins/","keywords":["toxins","Food & Drink","Fast Food","Diet & Nutrition"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf83b59cf825cbbff/69889bc95f570f4f28b21af5/fast-food-nurition-facts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Health.com /Amanda MacMillan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/health-com-amanda-macmillan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf83b59cf825cbbff/69889bc95f570f4f28b21af5/fast-food-nurition-facts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Fast food hamburgers","caption":"Fast food hamburgers","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/toxins/","name":"toxins"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4657397/fast-food-chemicals-toxins/","name":"Here's Another Reason to Avoid Fast Food"}}]}] ```