By Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times
A recent study that beneficial immediately throwing away toxic chemicals in black plastic products contained a calculation error that significantly overstated the contamination risks. However, the authors stand by their conclusions and warn against using such products.
Published in peer-reviewed journal ChemosphereExperts on the nonprofit Toxic-Free Future said they found flame retardants and other toxic chemicals in 85% of the 203 items manufactured black plastic including kitchen utensilsTake-out containers, children's toys and hair accessories.
The study originally said the potential exposure to chemicals present in certainly one of the kitchen utensils approached the minimum level that the Environmental Protection Agency would consider a health risk.
However, in an update to the study, the authors say they made an error of their calculations and the actual values were “an order of magnitude lower” than the EPA's thresholds. The error was discovered by Joe Schwarcz, director of the Office of Science and Society at McGill University in Canada.
In a blog post, Schwarcz explained that Toxin-Free Future scientists miscalculated the low end of what the EPA considered a health risk by making a multiplication error. Instead of probably exposing people to a dose of toxic chemicals in black plastic utensils that’s near the minimum level that the EPA considers a health risk, it is definitely a couple of tenth of that.
Although Schwarcz said the risks outlined within the study weren't enough to make him throw away his black plastic kitchen utensils if he had them, he agreed with the authors that flame retardants shouldn't be included in these products in any respect.
“The calculation error does not affect the study's results, conclusions or recommendations,” said Megan Liu, co-author of the study and science and policy manager for Toxic-free future. She added that any traces of flame retardants or toxic chemicals in cooking utensils needs to be of concern to the general public.
Flame retardants find their way into commonly used items because black products are made out of recycled electronic waste, similar to discarded televisions and computers, which regularly contain these additives. Flame retardants and other toxic chemicals might be released when heated.
If you're wondering whether your old black plastic spoon or other utensils fall into this group, Liu offered more advice.
In general, how do I do know that a product is harmful?
It is nearly unattainable to know if a black plastic product is contaminated. This is because these products that contain recycled e-waste don’t disclose an in depth list of all ingredients and contaminants within the product.
Liu said it’s also unclear what number of forms of flame retardants are contained in these black plastic products.
Some of the products researchers tested on this current study “contained up to nine different harmful chemicals and harmful flame retardants,” she said.
How can I discover if black food trays are made out of recycled, contaminated plastic?
When searching for the form of recycled plastic a product is manufactured from, search for a number in the emblem with the tracking arrows (which form a triangle).
Recycling symbols are numbered 1 to 7 and we commonly associate the numbers with what we will throw into our blue recycling bins. The The numbers 1 to 7 each stand for Polyethylene terephthalate, high density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene or Styrofoam and various plastics (including polycarbonate, polylactide, acrylic, acrylonitrile butadiene, styrene, fiberglass and nylon).
The study found higher levels of toxic flame retardants in polystyrene plastic marked with the number 6, Liu said.
When did recycled e-waste start contaminating black plastic products?
There isn’t any definitive timeline for when recycled e-waste was specifically incorporated into black plastic products, but e-waste was being recycled as early because the early 2000s, Liu said.
Until now, computers, cell phones, stereo systems, printers and copiers were simply disposed of in a landfill without reusing any usable parts.
But because the National Conference of State Legislatures notes, electronics production required a major amount of resources that could possibly be recovered through recycling.
Recovering resources similar to metals, plastics and glass through recycling used only a fraction of the energy needed to mine recent materials.
However, the study noted that flame retardants and other chemical contaminants have been detected in and near e-waste recycling facilities, in addition to within the indoor air and mud of official e-waste recycling facilities in Canada, China, Spain and the United States. Contamination has also been detected in soil samples around e-waste recycling sites in China and Vietnam.
What are safer alternatives?
The safest non-toxic material options for kitchen utensils are wood and stainless-steel.
Originally published:
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