Phthalates

Most cling-wrapped meats, cheeses and other foods sold in delis and grocery stores are wrapped in PVC. To soften #3 PVC plastic into its flexible form, manufacturers add various toxic chemicals known as “plasticizers” during production. Traces of these chemicals, known as adipates and phthalates, can leak out of PVC when it comes in contact with foods.

In a National Institutes of Health (NIH) report published in 2000, di-2-ehtylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), commonly found in PVC plastics, was found reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen. While DEHP is not expected to cause harmful health effects in humans at the levels found in the environment, harmful effects did occur in animals with prolonged exposure or in those that were administered high amounts of the chemical. These effects include reproductive problems, birth defects and damaged sperm and liver in mice.

The same year, however, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reclassified DEHP as non-carcinogenic to humans. According to NIH, blood transfusions and other procedures requiring the use of disposable PVC medical devices expose infants to high levels of DEHP, but another 2004 study of adolescents exposed to significant levels of DEHP during infancy found that there was “no significant adverse effects of on their physical growth and pubertal maturity.”