Does home cooking have an effect on phthalate levels in food

Phthalates or diesters of ortho-phthalic acid are among the world’s most used groups of plasticisers and some of them (e.g. di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)) are suspected to cause detrimental effects to human health (Latini et al., 2004). Food products can be contaminated with these chemical substances due to the environment – i.e. transfer via soil, water or air – or as a result of migration from phthalate containing contact materials used during cultivation, transport, production, storage as well as during cooking at home (Bradley et al., 2007; Cao, 2010). Because foodstuffs like potatoes and meat are mainly eaten as cooked dishes (i.e. after some kind of heat treatment), it is interesting to know whether cooking food at home influences present phthalate levels in a positive or rather in a negative way.