Associate Professor Sarit Kaserzon from UQ’s Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences spoke with AAP about a new research project aiming to understand what chemicals may be present in compostable food containers.
Dr Kaserzon says evidence is emerging that compostable food packaging used overseas contains PFAS chemical and intends to find out what may be in products in Australia.
PFAS stands for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances - a vast family of thousands of toxic, very long-lived chemicals that have been linked to environmental and human health problems.
The chemicals are valued for their heat, water and grease-repelling properties but they don't readily break down, and can build up in plants, including agricultural crops, in animals and in human bodies.
The AAP article was republished by Daily Mail, The Senior, Yahoo News and numerous other outlets. The story also appeared on 4BC radio.
