Side of toxic chemicals with those fries?

…”Food packaging, by its very nature, is used and disposed of quickly, generating an enormous volume of waste. Unfortunately, no matter how food packaging is thrown disposed of, the PFAS in packaging escapes into the environment – seeping into groundwater, contaminating compost, and spewing unknown and potentially hazardous chemicals in the air during incineration. PFAS are persistent “forever chemicals” – on the molecular level, all have carbon atoms bonded to fluorine atoms. This is the strongest bond in organic chemistry, which means that PFAS never break down – once made, they last for hundreds of years. Massachusetts has already spent millions of dollars to clean up drinking water contaminated by PFAS. The longer we wait to act, the more expensive this cleanup will be.

It doesn’t have to be this way – there are plenty of food packaging options without PFAS. Every day that we allow chemical infused food packaging to be used and thrown away, more PFAS flows into our bodies, air, water, and ground.

As we come close to the end of the state legislative session, let’s take decisive action and ban PFAS in food packaging by passing, An Act relative to chemicals in food packaging (S1494) (H. 2348) Senator Moore and Representative Lewis.   Nine states, including every state in New England other than Massachusetts and New Hampshire, have already banned PFAS in food packaging. Massachusetts should be next. Our food, after all, should nourish us, not come with a side of toxic chemicals.”

Full op ed