Customers should beware of buying black kitchen utensils – they could raise the risk of cancer.
A study found that 85 percent of spatulas, takeaway tubs and other kitchen utensils made from recycled black plastic contain fireproof substances that are linked to fertility problems, developmental delays and tumors.
These chemicals get into kitchen utensils, takeout containers and toys when manufacturers recycled fireproof electronics such as televisions or electrical casing.
Study author Megan Liu, science and policy manager at the campaign group Toxic-Free Future, said: ‘These cancer-causing chemicals shouldn’t be used to begin with, but with recycling, they are entering our environment and our homes in more ways than one. The high levels we found are concerning.’
Ms Liu, shopping for recycled plastic utensils at a US retailer. The study did not disclose which brands were tested and where they were purchased from
Black plastic utensils, take out containers and toys were found to contain levels of flame retardants, which researchers say makes for a greater cancer risk
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Flame retardants have been added to consumer products like couch cushions, phones and construction materials since the 1970s.
They do not easily break down in the environment.
They’re so common that people have found these chemicals in blood, breast milk and urine of many Americans.
In the decades since, research among people frequently exposed to these chemicals, like factory workers and fire fighters, have increasingly linked them to health problems, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Researchers from Toxic Free Future and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam decided to see if these chemicals were found in products millions of Americans use every day.
They purchased black plastic items from US based retailers.
They did not disclose which stores they purchased the products from and what brands the products themselves were.
Some of the 20 products analyzed included a sushi trays, spatulas and beaded necklaces. They didn’t test other colors of plastic items.
After taking these back to the lab, they found 85 percent of the products contained flame retardants or their byproducts.
The study suggest the problem has to do with the products that manufacturers decide to recycle.
These kitchen utensils are of particular concern because people can absorb the flame retardant chemicals through eating off them, the authors suggest.
Flame retardants and their byproducts are especially harmful to children because their organs are still developing, and because they’re more likely to be exposed to it in high amounts by placing plastic items in their mouth, according to the NIH.
‘The health of women and children must be prioritized over the chemical industry profits. We need less poison plastic, more safer chemicals and materials, and an end to plastic ingredient secrecy,’ Ms Liu said.
Still, being exposed to these chemicals once likely isn’t harmful to health. Instead, repeated, high levels of exposure, are likely what leads people to develop the associated problems.
Research into how these harm the body is ongoing. It’s likely that they build up in the body over time, the researchers said.
Takeout containers made of recycled plastic were also found to contain flame retardant byproducts. When heated and eaten out of, these chemicals can leech into the human body, building up over time
Once in the body, these chemicals act as endocrine disruptors, interfering with the body’s hormonal system. This harms reproductive health, fertility and development, and could lead to mutations that may become cancerous.
However they work, a growing body of research continues to show that the chemicals are linked to a number of health concerns.
A April 2024 study tracked over 1000 Americans over two decades found that people with high levels of flame retardants in their blood had a 300 percent higher risk of dying from cancer than people with low levels of flame retardants in their blood.
Thyroid and breast cancer, which are known to be linked to endocrine disrupting chemicals, was particularly common.
Similarly, research from Harvard School of Public Health found that 80 percent of women who were undergoing IVF treatment to get pregnant had levels of flame retardants in their urine.
Those with the highest levels of the chemicals in their body had a harder time getting pregnant, staying pregnant and giving birth to a live child than people with lower levels of the chemicals in their body.
With this evidence in mind, and knowing how harmful these chemicals are to children in specific, Mike Schade, Toxic-Free Future’s director of Mind the Store said that companies who make recycled plastic utensils need to do better.
Mr Schade said: ‘Major retailers must ensure the products they sell, from children’s toys to kitchen spatulas, are not introducing banned cancer-causing chemicals into our homes.’
