Forever Chemicals: The Hidden Cost of Invisible Ingredients in Our Food

Around 44.5% of the world population struggle with poverty. UNICEF expects 512 million people to face hunger and 2.6 billion people to experience at least some food insecurity by 2030. In the 21st century, with access to food being so difficult, systems that govern food safety and presentation are highly susceptible to being overlooked and exploited. As Capitalism promotes cheaper and unregulated production to meet the demands, access to healthy food becomes a luxury. However, the impacts of unregulated production affect a much larger audience than is believed.

According to the report “Invisible Ingredient” published by Systemiq on this Wednesday, toxic chemicals such as phthalates, bisphenols, pesticides, and PFAS, referred to as “forever chemicals,” impose a $3 trillion annual cost. Of this total, around $2 trillion falls under healthcare costs. Especially for communities struggling with poverty, this hidden chemical expense creates an extra financial and medical burden, making it impossible to break the cycle of poverty.

The aggregation of “forever chemicals” through oral consumption or external exposure can lead to endocrine, reproductive, cardiovascular, or respiratory diseases, and even neurodevelopmental disorders. Even the PCOS disease, seen in one in eight women, is proven to be a direct or indirect cost of PFAS in foods. The exposure to these chemicals starts right after birth, as the mother consumes these foods, they are directly transferred through breastfeeding. As the duration of exclusive breastfeeding increases, the accumulation of PFAS in babies can triple the amount in formula-fed infants.

Despite being preventable, overlooked exposure to toxic chemicals in food production will continue to spread poison as nations economically dependent on powerful corporations fail to take action, and even worse, incentivize them. One of the major food producers in the world, the US under the Trump administration, approved the use of “forever chemicals” as pesticides to be sprayed on soybeans, wheat, corn and etc., this year. Although the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement led against MAGA has been a hopeful development, many companies have already started using the new pesticides.

Even when banned by international agreements such as the Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions, concessions made to the market by governments allow easy entry of the variants of these chemicals. The fragmentation of regulations fails to inhibit the industry substitutions, where the laws can be passed when shifted from a long-chain version to a short-chain version of the chemical with similar hazards. These can be classified as “regrettable substitutions”, where the product continues to harm the consumer while deceiving them as being healthy.

The European Union’s ban on bisphenols, namely BPA, exemplifies how companies can continue to present the same toxic product while hiding behind labels. Bisphenols are mainly used as chemicals in plastic materials, from receipts to food packaging, and are major endocrine disruptors as they mimic the estrogen hormone. Since 2010, the EU has banned the use of BPA from all food packages. The restrictions pushed many companies to redesign their packaging or thermal papers, yet, for example, the use of BPS in thermal receipts increased from 16% to 43% after the announcement of the upcoming ban. For the following two years, a regrettable substitute for BPS surged by 376%, while all these products labeled themselves as “BPA-free”.

Achieving drastic reductions in exposure to forever chemicals holds more importance than ever.

Under current regulations, the industry will continue to generate private profits while externalizing drastic healthcare costs. A regulatory shift is required through binding phaseout timelines and group bans against regrettable substitutions. Governments can prevent any loopholes through bio-monitoring and enforcing supply chain traceability. Ultimately, progress depends on aligning policies with market incentives.

Writer: Ece Irem Kenar

Editor: Leyla Hacıoğlu