High Levels of phthalates in organic foods? [View all]

[n2doc]

Late last year two studies came out challenging the presumption that organic food is better for you, and now a University of Washington study shows your exposure to the chemicals phthalates and bisphenol A, better known as BPA, might be much higher from organic foods.

The study was led by Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, an environmental health pediatrician in the UW School of Public Health and at Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

The researchers compared the chemical exposures of 10 families, half of whom were given written instructions on how to reduce phthalate and BPA exposures, explains a press release about the study. The other families received a five-day catered diet of local, fresh, organic food that was not prepared, cooked or stored in plastic containers.

“We were extremely surprised to see (the) results. We expected the concentrations to decrease significantly for the kids and parents in the catered diet group. Chemical contamination of foods can lead to concentrations higher than deemed safe by the U.S. EPA,” said Sathyanarayana.

When the researchers tested the participants' urinary concentrations for evidence of phthalates and BPA, they found that concentration of phthalates was 100 times higher than the levels found in the majority of the general population.

The contamination must be happening up the food chain, the research suggests.


Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/national/article/UW-study-finds-chemical-risk-in-organic-diet-4314019.php