Mass. — Harmful chemicals are present in some common household items made from black plastic according to a new report by the Toxic-Free Future.
The biggest concern is that some of these items come in direct contact with food.
“With our particular study, finding flame retardants in food contact materials, we know that they can leach out of kitchen utensils and into food,” said Megan Liu, policy manager at Toxic-Free Future. “It’s alarming to think that we could be eating flame retardants.”
The organization issued a peer-reviewed study after testing a number of household items made out of black plastic.
Sushi trays, black kitchen utensils, and jewelry all showed concerning levels of flame-retardant chemicals.
“Flame retardants are associated with a wide range of health effects,” said Liu. “They’re known to be persistent. They’re able to build up in our bodies and our food chain, and they’re toxic even at low levels of exposure.”
More specifically, Liu said they’re associated with an increased rate of cancer and reproductive problems.
In a statement, the North American Flame Retardant Alliance told Boston 25 News: “While the report raises concerns about the presence of flame retardants in household items, it is important to remember and recognize the critical role these chemistries play in fire safety as well as the fact that manufacturers conduct rigorous research and risk assessments to ensure that FRs do not pose significant health risks to consumers.”
Ramaswamy Nagarajan is a professor of plastics in the engineering department at UMass Lowell. He’s developing safer retardants made from bio-derived sources in his lab.
He believes the problem is surfacing because of the way materials are recycled and that’s why even banned chemicals keep popping up in consumer products.
“I’m a big fan of recycling and we should recycle material,” explained Nagarajan. “At the same, the quality controls and checks which are there in place are probably not sufficient at this point to understand the influence of additives in these applications.”
On a personal level, he takes precautions with black plastic.
“I try to minimize the contact of food in these plastic items which I don’t know what they are. You transfer the food to something else and then you don’t get the exposure.”
When it comes to cooking, Liu has this advice.
“We know there are safer alternatives that are out there, like wooden and stainless steel. Reducing your use of black plastic and plastics as much as possible help reduce your exposure to harmful flame retardants.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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