快餐包裝的致癌風(fēng)險(xiǎn)

You don’t go to a fast food restaurant expecting a healthy meal, but you generally don’t expect potentially carcinogenic compounds, either. It turns out that a third of the time, that’s what you’re getting, and not in the food, but in the wrapper. Scientists aren’t sure how concerning this new health revelation is just yet, but it appears that even fast food wrappers can be bad for you.

去快餐店吃東西的你肯定不會(huì)指望在這里能吃到健康食物，但你必然沒(méi)有料到這里還有致癌化合物。事實(shí)上，在三分之一的情況下你吃到的致癌化合物來(lái)自食物包裝而非食物?？茖W(xué)家們并不確定這一最新健康發(fā)現(xiàn)的影響范圍，不過(guò)他們知道就連快餐食物的包裝都會(huì)對(duì)你不利。

A team of American scientists analyzed around 400 samples of fast food packaging, and found that a third contained fluorine, indicative of certain chemicals harmful both to humans and the environment. The results demonstrate we could unknowingly be eating these chemicals should they migrate into our food. The information isn’t new—prior studies have also found these chemicals in fast food wrappers, but these results are important for demonstrating a quick new way to measure the chemicals, and for determining the scope of the problem.

一隊(duì)來(lái)自美國(guó)的科學(xué)家們分析了四百個(gè)快餐包裝紙樣本，發(fā)現(xiàn)三分之一含有氟，它對(duì)人體和環(huán)境均有害。研究結(jié)果表明當(dāng)這些化學(xué)物質(zhì)滲入食物中的時(shí)候，我們會(huì)在不知不覺(jué)中吃掉它們。這一說(shuō)法并不新穎，先前也有研究在快餐包裝中發(fā)現(xiàn)了這些化學(xué)物質(zhì)，新研究的重要之處在于確定了這些物質(zhì)的影響。

The scientists hunted specifically for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs, used to make consumer products stain-resistant and waterproof. But PFASs can also cause all sorts of shitty things like “kidney and testicular cancer, low birth weight, thyroid disease, decreased sperm quality, pregnancy-induced hypertension, and immunotoxicity in children,” according to the paper published today in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters. Fast food companies have phased out some PFASs, but the remaining ones can still leach into your food through the wrapper.

科學(xué)家們主要研究了全氟烷基物質(zhì)，它可以放掉色和防水。但全氟烷基物質(zhì)也會(huì)帶來(lái)各種問(wèn)題，比如腎癌和睪丸癌、出生體重低、甲狀腺疾病、精子質(zhì)量下降、妊娠誘發(fā)高血壓和兒童免疫中毒。該研究已被發(fā)表在《環(huán)境科學(xué)與技術(shù)期刊》上?？觳偷暌阎鸩教蕴四承┤榛镔|(zhì)，但剩余的全氟烷基物質(zhì)依舊會(huì)從包裝滲入你的食物中。

That’s important, the study’s authors write, because around a third of children (and often yours truly) eat fast food daily.

該研究的作者們表示這很重要，因?yàn)榇蠹s三分之一的兒童每天都要吃快餐。

The researchers collected 400 wrappers, mostly from Washington State, eastern Massachusetts, western Michigan, northern California, and metropolitan Washington, DC, from the 27 largest fast food chains, like McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Panera. They shot light particles, called photons, at each sample for around three minutes, and then watched for a characteristic gamma-ray signature that fluorine would emit.

研究人員們收集了400個(gè)包裝紙，其中大部分來(lái)自美國(guó)華盛頓州、馬薩諸塞州東部、密歇根州西部、加利福尼亞州北部和華盛頓特區(qū)大城市的27家大型快餐連鎖店，比如麥當(dāng)勞、溫迪漢堡和帕尼羅面包。研究人員們將光子持續(xù)射向每個(gè)樣本三分鐘，之后觀察氟釋放出來(lái)的伽馬射線特征。

Cups and wrappers that didn’t touch food didn’t contain any fluorine. But around a third of all of the pieces of trash, including half of the samples of paper that came in direct contact with food, contained levels of fluorine far higher than the Danish Ministry of Environment and Food’s guidelines. The researchers measured at least 60 micrograms of fluorine per gram in paper wrappers, and 14 micrograms of fluorine per gram in cardboard packaging.

沒(méi)有接觸食物的杯子和包裝紙不含任何氟。但大約有三分之一用過(guò)的包裝紙中含有氟，其含量遠(yuǎn)高于丹麥環(huán)境和食品部的要求。研究人員們測(cè)出包裝紙至少含有每克60毫克氟，而包裝紙盒中含有每克14毫克氟。

You shouldn’t freak out too much about this, especially since you’ve already decided to eat something we all know bolsters our chances of obesity and other diseases. The study does note that some of the fluorine-containing products didn’t have PFASs, meaning the fluorine could have come from other chemicals. Plus, “It’s really difficult to make that link between what we were finding in the packaging, and how that might affect someone’s health,” first author Laurel Schaider from Harvard University and the Silent Spring Institute told the Chicago Tribune. “PFAS are a complex category.”

對(duì)此你也不必太害怕，畢竟你都已經(jīng)決定吃那些讓我們發(fā)胖和生病的垃圾食品了。該研究還指出某些含有氟的產(chǎn)品中不含全氟烷基物質(zhì)，這意味著里面的氟可能來(lái)自其它化學(xué)物質(zhì)。此外，我們很難將包裝紙里面的東西和它們對(duì)人們的影響掛鉤起來(lái)。來(lái)自哈佛大學(xué)和寂靜春天研究所的第一作者Laurel Schaider表示：“全氟烷基物質(zhì)是一個(gè)復(fù)雜的分類。”

She’s not kidding. Fast food companies used to include long-chain PFAS—so called because the molecules literally consist of a long chain of carbon with fluorine atoms on the end—in their packaging. Most companies have voluntarily switched to the shorter chain varieties due to health concerns, but scientists haven’t determined that shorter chain PFAS are risk-free either, according to a report by the Verge. The new study does suggest the shorter chain molecules could pass into food more easily.

她沒(méi)有在開(kāi)玩笑。快餐公司一般使用含有長(zhǎng)鏈全氟烷基物質(zhì)的包裝，后來(lái)大部分公司出于健康擔(dān)憂轉(zhuǎn)而采用較短鏈的包裝?？煽茖W(xué)家們并不覺(jué)得短鏈全氟烷基物質(zhì)完全沒(méi)有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，新研究認(rèn)為短鏈分子更容易滲入食物中。

Here’s another reason to not eat fast food. I will probably continue to eat fast food.

現(xiàn)在又有理由不吃快餐了，但我可能還是會(huì)繼續(xù)去吃。