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‘Forever chemicals’ PFAS found in organic Danish eggs

New research has found the environmental contaminants, per- and polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS), in organic eggs across Danish chicken farms where they were likely transferred through fishmeal used for feed.

Once present in food, PFAS cannot be eliminated. Manufacturers can measure PFAS in raw foods to reduce their levels. There are foods and materials more likely to be contaminated with PFAS than others; these chemicals are most often found in drinking water, fish, fruit, eggs, and egg products.

The risk of PFAS is “noticeable” for children, says associate professor Kit Granby from the DTU National Food Institute. It is heightened for young children aged between 4 and 9 years old who eat more than two organic eggs per week.

According to Granby investigations clearly indicate that the unwanted substance was transferred to the eggs via fishmeal in the chicken feed. A replacement with a non-contaminated feed ingredient could significantly reduce the content of PFAS in the eggs within weeks.

A study carried out by the DTU National Food Institute in collaboration with the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration discovered a link when PFAS compounds were found in large chicken flocks consuming organic feed.

PFAS refers to a group of chemicals that travel and accumulate through the food chain. These chemicals are produced by the food industry and found in the environment through polluted wastewater streams.

“If food manufacturers or feed suppliers are not aware of the risks and do not test for the presence of PFAS, this can result in contaminations like the one in Denmark in organic eggs,” says the CEO of Food Strategy Institute, Rob Kooijmans.

Danish citizens are exposed to PFAS from food sources as well as the environment, which contributes to their PFAS intake. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has set the tolerable PFAS weekly intake for four specific PFAS (PFOA, PFNA, PFHxS and PFOS) at 4.4 nanograms per kilogram body weight per week. For children who eat more than five eggs a week, the weekly intake is 10 nanograms per kilogram body weight per week.

Tackling PFAS in food and its packaging

Termed “forever chemicals” due to their resistance to most biological and chemical degradation mechanisms, PFAS are commonly used in food packaging products. The use of these chemicals in paper and board food packaging has been banned since 2020 in Denmark. Breakthrough research released last year unveiled a new method using an emerging low temperature technique to decompose PFAS compounds, yet the issue persists.

“We [have] only started to discover PFAS as a food contaminant within the last 10 to15 years. On a global scale, there have only been two official cases by food safety authorities in relation to the presence of PFAS in food: one in canned food from China in 2014 and one in pickles and chutney from India in 2012,” says Kooijmans.

The study performed by DTU indicates that PFAS was introduced via fishmeal used as an ingredient for hen feed, transferred to eggs, where they bound to the protein in the yolk.

“In reality, we do not really know how big the problem [of PFAS] is because many players in the food supply chain never test for the presence of PFAS and monitoring schemes and studies like the of DTU can pick-up PFAS from time to time,” says Kooijmans.