The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it will ban the use of certain chemicals that are used to make stain, water repelling food packaging, antibacterial soaps and grease. The administration further stipulated that it will ban food additives used in the making of natural and artificial flavors. This announcement comes when the agency is finally paying attention to hold food companies that use toxic ingredients accountable. This ban goes to effect in February. Apparently, the ban is in response to recently filed petition by environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) among others. If you or your loved ones have been injured due to any of these chemicals, you might want to contact Sloan Firm for assistance.
PFCS- Three of the banned chemicals are per fluorinated compounds (PFCs) employed to give the effect of non-stick. The chemicals are often used in the making of frozen food containers, non-stick cookware and take-out packaging like pizza boxes. They have also been used to make 3M’s Scotchgard and DuPont’s Teflon. PFCs have posed a concern for the environmental and health departments for the longest time now. PFCs destroy our ecosystems and contaminate drinking water for over 6.5 million people. Certain PFCs such as PCB are known to harm unborn children. To make matters worse, PFCs cab be passed through a mother’s umbilical cord to the fetus. These grease-resistant chemical substances are associated with cancer and birth defects.
Triclocarban and Triclosan- The dangerous of antibacterial soaps may sometimes outweigh their benefits. The FDA issued an order prohibiting the incorporation of triclocarban, triclosan among other dangerous chemicals used to make body washes and antibacterial soaps. Antibacterial soaps are are deemed effective in killing germs but if this comes at the expense of your health then you should not use them. Companies were given just one year to take out the toxic ingredients from the products. Nonetheless, the ban applies to just consumer products and not the antibacterial soaps used in service settings and hospitals. According to studies, triclosan and triclocarban disrupts hormone cycles causing muscle weakness. Companies are now looking to replace these products with benzalkonium chloride, chloroxylenol (PCMX) and benzethonium chloride.
Cloflucarban and Fluorosalan- FDA went ahead to ban Cloflucarban and Fluorosalan citing that the safety of these chemicals have not been substantiated due to the fact that information provided on the ingredients is not sufficient for the agency.
Hexachlorophene and more- More chemicals that were banned include Hexachlorophene, Phenol (less than 1.5 percent) 16, Hexylresorcinol, Triclocarban, Iodine complex, Tribromsalan, Phenol (greater than 1.5 percent), Iodine complex, Triclosan, Methylbenzethonium chloride, Nonylphenoxypoly (ethyleneoxy) ethanoliodine, Phenol (greater than 1.5 percent), Triple dye, Poloxamer-iodine complex, Povidone-iodine 5 to 10 percent, Sodium oxychlorosene, Secondary amyltricresols and Undecoylium chloride iodine complex. Te FDA cited that there is a lack of information about the toxxity of these chemicals and most of them are suspected to be toxic for human use.
This ban of toxic chemicals shows that the FDA is now committed to taking actions to protect the public and ensure they use safe. Most of these ingredients are used in making proprietary flavor blends making it hard for the consumer to avoid them unless they spend hours scanning ingredients. It is good that the FDA is stepping up against the companies using the chemicals to prevent their use.