FDA believes chemical in pizza boxes may cause cancer, birth defects

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Friday, January 8, 2016
In this Feb. 6, 2015 photo, Maria Witkowski hands a Hunt Brothers Pizza from the drive-thru window to a customer at the Rightway Foodmart in Andersonville, Tenn.
In this Feb. 6, 2015 photo, Maria Witkowski hands a Hunt Brothers Pizza from the drive-thru window to a customer at the Rightway Foodmart in Andersonville, Tenn.
kgo-AP Photo/Wade Payne

The FDA has a new warning about the boxes that your pizza comes in.

The agency is banning the chemical perchlorate, the waxy coating that repels grease and moisture in pizza boxes.

It's also used in some sandwich wrappers and the lining of microwave popcorn bags.

The government believes the chemical may cause birth defects and cancer.