Forever chemicals will no longer be in your microwave popcorn bags and fast food wrappers. What to know.

You won’t have to worry about “forever chemicals” in your food packaging for much longer. According to a new statement from the Food and Drug Administration, products with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are no longer being sold by manufacturers for use in materials that come into contact with food in the United States.

Here is everything you need to know about the FDA’s new announcement and what it means for you and your family’s health.

👩🏻‍🔬 What are forever chemicals?

PFAS, sometimes called forever chemicals, are a group of synthetic chemicals that resist breaking down in the environment over time. They’re everywhere from tap water to car seats, carpets, makeup and waterproof and stain-resistant products — including, yes, items like the wrapper your hamburger comes in. The reason PFAS are popular in food packaging is because of their water- and grease-resistant properties. Common food packaging that uses PFAS includes items you do not want to leak, such as:

👎 Why are forever chemicals bad?

Forever chemicals have long been linked with adverse health effects. Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we know that there are associations between exposure to PFAS and health outcomes such as:

• Increased cholesterol levels

• Lower antibody response to vaccines

• Pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia

• Kidney and testicular cancer

• Changes in liver enzymes

• Lower birth weight

🕵️‍♀️ What is the FDA doing about it?

According to the FDA press statement, in 2020 the agency conducted a safety assessment of PFAS, leading manufacturers to voluntarily pledge to stop selling food packaging items that contained these chemicals. However, this decision was not enforced by a specific law or regulation. The FDA announcement confirms that manufacturers have now fulfilled their voluntary commitments.

🥼 What do experts say?

“These chemicals are completely unnecessary in food wrappers,” David Andrews, senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group, tells Yahoo Life, noting that testing conducted by EWG and other researchers in 2017 “found that about half of the wrappers on the market were not using PFAS.” According to Andrews, the FDA’s announcement “is long overdue, because the public deserves faster action to reduce everyone’s exposure to these concerning chemicals.”

Emily Scarr, director of the Stop Toxic PFAS Campaign, tells Yahoo Life that the announcement is “welcome news,” adding that the use of all PFAS should be phased out. “There’s simply no reason to expose people to these toxic chemicals just so our hands don’t get greasy,” she says.

🛒 Will consumers notice a difference?

Scarr, who notes that this announcement applies only to paper products, says consumers will most likely not notice the lack of PFAS in their food packaging. “Many brands and chains have already phased out the use of PFAS in their cardboard containers and paper wrappers, or never used it in the first place,” she explains.