Submitted by Angie Mon 02/22/2010
I’m serious. You cannot eat one more bite of microwave popcorn. First of all, it’s disgusting. Hey – I can be all over some movie house popcorn, and I even have one of those awesome stove top ones with the handle. Popcorn and movie nights rock. But no more microwave stuff – I don’t care how cheap it is, it’s toxic goop in a bag. The FDA has recently discovered dangers associated with a chemical coating perfluorooctanoic (PFOA) that is in the lining of the popcorn bag that is released when the microwave heats. The EPA has identified PFOA as “likely a carcinogen to humans” (http://www.epa.gov/oppt/pfoa/pubs/hs~faq.html). PFOA also causes infertility, birth defects; increased cancer rates, changes in lipid levels and adverse effects on the immune system (in animal testing). It’s also found in stain resistant products for clothing, furniture, carpet and anti-stick Teflon pots, pans and utensils. Some pizza makers are using it for their pizza boxes to resist grease build up. If that’s not bad enough there is also very concerning information about diacetyl which is a chemical in the butter flavoring of most microwave popcorn brands and has been associated with a lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans which causes pulmonary inflammation and obstruction of the lungs. A study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) linked women who took longer to become pregnant were more likely to have higher blood levels of two common perfluorinated chemicals, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA).
