Are plasticizers and bisphenols from food packaging getting into your blood?

What's actually in it

Food packaging contains plasticizers (phthalates, adipates), bisphenols (BPA, BPS, BPF), and other additives that migrate into the food inside. The migration is faster with fatty foods, acidic foods, and heat.

Once these chemicals enter your digestive system, they absorb quickly into your bloodstream. They're measurable in blood within hours of exposure and detectable in virtually everyone tested in industrialized countries.

What the research says

A 2026 study in Chemosphere measured plasticizers and bisphenols in blood from women in Sicily and found that all participants had measurable levels of multiple compounds. The chemicals detected included DEHP metabolites, BPA, and several BPA replacements that are increasingly used as substitutes.

Dietary habits were strongly associated with blood levels. Women who ate more canned foods, plastic-packaged foods, and takeout in containers had higher concentrations of all the compounds measured. Women who cooked at home using fresh ingredients and stored food in glass had lower levels.

The BPA replacements weren't safe alternatives. BPS and BPF were present at similar concentrations to BPA and showed comparable estrogenic activity. Switching to supposedly "safer" replacements hasn't reduced blood levels of hormone-disrupting chemicals.