Paper and bamboo straws also contain PFAS:a new study reveals it

Paper and bamboo straws, generally considered more environmentally friendly than plastic ones, contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and could be harmful to the environment as well as to people's health:is what emerged from one study recently published in the journal Food Additives & Contaminants:Part A and conducted by Belgian researchers from the University of Antwerp.The latter, examining 39 different brands of straws made of paper, bamboo, glass, stainless steel and plastic, not only discovered that PFAS were present in the majority of the products tested, but also that the straws contained the most such substances of paper and bamboo.

Specifically, 69% of straw brands analyzed contained PFAS, for a total of 18 different chemical substances:a massive presence, which however has nothing to do with that found in the brands of paper and bamboo straws.In fact, 90% of the brands of paper straws tested were contaminated with PFAS, which were then present in 80% of the brands of bamboo straws analyzed.Numbers higher than those of the unsustainable brands of plastic straws and glass ones, as 75% of the former and 40% of the latter contained PFAS, which only in the steel straws they were not traced:in fact, none of the straws of that kind contained the dangerous substances, with researchers therefore not surprisingly advising citizens to use them.

«I would advise consumers to use this type of straw or simply to avoid using straws altogether», stated the co-author of the study, Thimo Groffen, shedding light on their gray areas. «Straws made from plant-based materials, such as paper and bamboo, are often advertised as more sustainable and eco-friendly than those made from plastic, but the presence of PFAS in them means that this is not necessarily true."This was in fact declared by the researcher, whose words cannot help but fuel doubts about the harmfulness of paper and bamboo straws. In the same press release with which the research was presented, moreover, we read that PFAS are "potentially harmful to people, wildlife and the environment", in which they can "persist for thousands of years" due to their slow decomposition. A problem within the problem, given that these substances are also have been associated with several health problems, including “low birth weight, thyroid disease, increased cholesterol levels, liver damage, kidney cancer and testicular cancer.”

Of course, these are risks that are unlikely to materialize given that the concentrations of PFAS found “were low” and “most people tend to use straws only occasionally.”However, it must also be remembered that on the one hand PFAS can remain in the body for many years and their concentrations accumulate over time, and on the other that the types of substances detected are certainly not the most harmless in circulation. The PFAS that was present most of all in straws, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), has in fact been “banned globally as of 2020“, while two other PFAS detected – thetrifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFMS) – they are “highly soluble in water and therefore could leach through straws into drinks”.

In any case, however, researchers have not verified the possible ability of PFAS to "coming out of straws" and thus getting into drinks, the danger to health of which therefore remains uncertain.What is certain, however, is the fact that plant-based straws are much more unsustainable than previously thought. The study - which is the first of its kind in Europe and the second worldwide - confirms the results of previous US research, which in turn had "detected PFAS in plant-based straws".Apparently, therefore, not only in Belgium but also in the USA, signs have emerged that put plant-based straws in a bad light, which are evidently anything but "ecological".

[by Raffaele De Luca]