Girl finds plastic wrap, cancer link
By CHRIS LEHOURITES — Associated Press April 29, 2000
“I thought it would be easy to test,” said Nelson, 18, now a first-year university student.
Motivated by her discovery that no one had done extensive research on plastic wraps before, Nelson decided to study the effects of radiation on carcinogens. Roughly six years later, she is receiving international accolades and meeting some of the most influential people in the scientific field.
Nelson had read that one of several suspected carcinogens –di(ethylhexyl)adepate, or DEHA — is in many plastic wraps and that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had never tested whether the carcinogen migrated into food being microwaved. That’s when she got her idea.
She microwaved plastic wrap in virgin olive oil, hoping to find that the carcinogens seeped into the oil. She found that, and more.
“I tested four different kinds of plastic wraps and I found not just the carcinogens but also xenoestrogen was migrating, and that causes low sperm count in men and breast cancer in women,” Nelson said.
Getting to that point took discipline and determination.
At 12, Nelson didn’t have the resources to do her research and so she set it aside.
“I had the idea, but I didn’t start to work on the project until the 10th grade,” when the promise of an automatic A in a science class revived it, she said.
“My teacher said if we made regionals in the science fair that we would get 10 bonus points. So I asked what we get if we make states and she said 30 points. Then I asked what we get if we make internationals and she said an automatic A,” Nelson said.
Without the equipment or facilities to get the job done, she started making phone calls. Many calls later, she got help from Jon Wilkes, a scientist at the
“Sometimes students who work with us come to us and ask for help withscience projects. In her case it was different,” Wilkes said. “She had already done a fair amount of research and she had already concluded that nobody had ever studied plastic wraps.”
Wilkes said it isn’t rare for non-scientists to come up with an idea like Nelson’s, but it is rare for them to actually pursue a way to test their theories. Wilkes and the toxicological research centre let her run her experiments using government equipment.
“Sometimes she would be asleep standing up,” Wilkes said. “But she’d be there working — if there was no debate or basketball game to cheer at.”
Her research concluded, Nelson got her A.
“The first year I had specific evidence but not numbers. The second year I got the numbers,” she said.
Her analysis found that DEHA was migrating into the oil at between 200 parts and 500 parts per million. The FDA standard is 0.05 parts per billion. Nelson couldn’t find any regulations concerning xenoestrogen, making it difficult to know how much is too much.
Her findings won her the American Chemical Society’s top science prize for students while she was a junior. Last year, she placed fourth in the International Science and Engineering Fair in
Nelson’s findings were published as a one-paragraph summary in several science journals, and submitted to others. Nelson also appeared in an advertisement in the March edition of Discover magazine, touting the international science fair.
“I went to
Still, Nelson isn’t sure whether she wants to pursue a career in science. “I’m undeclared right now,” she said of choosing a major.