Chemicals in Microwave Popcorn Wrappers Are Harmful to Humans

How many times a week do you eat microwave popcorn or consume paper-wrapped hamburgers from the drive-up window of a fast food restaurant? As it turns out, these habits could pose a risk to your health, and that's not because of the artery clogging properties of a cheeseburger. Rather, many commonly used food wrappers and even microwave popcorn bags have been found to harbor chemicals dangerous to humans -- chemicals that have recently been shown to migrate into food and then into our bodies.

A new study from the University of Toronto suggests that perfluorinated carboxylic acids, which are the breakdown products from chemicals used in the manufacture of water, stain and oil repellent products used in food wrappers as well as water resistant clothing, are not only showing up in our bodies (something scientists already knew) but are, in some cases, coming off of the paper wrappers used to package many foods. These PCFAs, known as polyfluoroalkyl phosphate esters, are migrating directly from the food we eat into our bodies.

For more on the dangers of certain food wrappers, visit AOL Health.