A peer-reviewed study found evidence of plastics contaminated by electronic waste during a recycling process.
In October 2024, a scientific study published in the journal "Chemosphere" made its rounds online. The study's conclusion -- that dangerous levels of flame-retardant chemicals had been found in a variety of plastic household items, including kitchen utensils -- was alarming to many on social media. Several readers wrote to Snopes to ask us to examine the study, its findings and what actions, if any, consumers should take to protect themselves.
The study was conducted by a U.S.-based nonprofit called Toxic-Free Future in partnership with a researcher at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands. In a Zoom interview with Snopes, Megan Liu, the study's main author, described Toxic Free Future as an environmental health advocacy group that both performs scientific research and advocates for market and policy changes based on its findings.
Liu's study looked at a family of related chemicals called brominated flame retardants, or BFRs, which she said are added to plastic parts of electronics in order to reduce the flammability of the plastic. However, when these electronics are thrown away, they are stripped for parts that might be recyclable. Liu wanted to test to see if plastics contaminated with BFRs were being recycled into everyday household objects -- kitchen utensils, takeout containers and children's toys. Her study found they were.
Andrew Turner, an associate professor of environmental sciences at the University of Plymouth who was not affiliated with the study, said that plastics need to be sorted into their proper types in order to be recycled -- no mixing and matching allowed. However, scanners often have problems with black plastics because they don't reflect light.
"I think there's been an awareness problem," Turner said. "People assume that black plastic can be recycled, but often it can't."
But the demand for black plastics is incredibly large, so a company might want to use recycled plastics to keep up. However, this creates a contamination problem. Think of the chemical makeup of plastic like a cooked bowl of noodles, all tangled up with each other. In this case, the BFRs (or any other toxic add-ins) would be like the herbs and sauce mixed in. Just like one can't separate pasta from its sauce after it has been mixed, scientists can't separate BFRs from the plastics. Thus, any recycled black plastic contaminated with BFRs would simply carry those chemicals with it.
In order to test the theory that BFRs were contaminating plastics, the researchers purchased 203 different black plastic items around the Seattle, Washington, area, making sure to buy from both small, local distributors and big-box retailers. Then, each item was tested for bromine, the critical element in BFRs, using X-ray fluorescence. Any piece containing more than 50 parts per million of any BFR was sent to the Netherlands for further analysis. There, the researchers discovered that objects made of plastics also found in electronics manufacturing were more likely to contain higher levels of BFRs, including some BFRs that are banned in the U.S. and European Union.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency's website, BFRs are considered persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic. Persistent means the chemicals don't naturally break down in the environment -- such substances are sometimes called "forever chemicals." Bioaccumulative means the chemicals don't break down in the body -- instead, they slowly build up over time. Liu noted that this also means there isn't really a "safe" level of exposure. Toxic means the chemicals are bad for you -- in this case, BFRs have been linked to problems with hormone regulation and thyroid dysfunction, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Liu and Turner both pointed to separate studies proving that BFRs could make their way from these contaminated products into the body.
"There was an earlier study undertaken at the University of Birmingham that showed leaching of these chemicals when you expose them to hot oil," Turner said. Liu mentioned a 2022 study demonstrating that saliva could also transfer BFRs -- like a toddler mouthing a contaminated black plastic toy, for instance.
Luckily, there are a variety of other materials that make good cooking utensils: wood, stainless steel and silicone are all good options. At present, the best solution for parents worried about mouthing is keeping such objects, including black plastic toys, out of the reach of children.
But Liu urged that only policy changes that stop the recycling of e-waste would fix this issue. "We can't shop our way out of this problem," she said.