We came across a couple of posts on X raising alarms about the safety of black plastic cooking utensils. The claims suggest that these utensils are toxic and should not be used for cooking.
According to the posts, a recent study revealed that black plastic cooking utensils are made from recycled electronic waste, which contains flame-retardant chemicals. When heated during cooking, these chemicals supposedly leach into food, enter the bloodstream, and potentially cause health issues.
With the widespread use of black plastic cooking utensils in kitchens around the world, we decided to take a closer look at the claims surrounding their safety.
The study
The claims stem from a study titled “From e-waste to living space: Flame retardants contaminating household items add to concern about plastic recycling,” published in the chemistry journal Chemosphere in October 2024. It was conducted on the hypothesis that household products manufactured using recycled plastics from electronic waste could contain harmful flame retardants, potentially posing health risks.
Flame retardants are chemicals added to materials like plastics, textiles, and electronics to reduce the risk of fire. While they improve safety, there have been concerns that these chemicals could leak into the environment during use, accumulate in living organisms over time, and cause harm to human health. This has prompted studies to investigate their risks.
The researchers from this particular study focused on brominated flame retardants (BFRs), specifically the compound decabromodiphenyl ether (known as deca-BDE or BDE-209).
Deca-BDE was commonly used in electronics such as televisions and computer casings and has been associated with potential health risks, including carcinogenicity, endocrine disruption, neurotoxicity, and reproductive and developmental toxicity. As such, the compound has been banned in electronics production in the EU since 2008, while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched a “decaBDE Phase-Out Initiative” in 2009 to eliminate the production, importation and sale of decaBDE by 2013.
The study contends that recycled plastics from electronics manufactured before these initiatives could, in theory, contain these harmful compounds and, inadvertently, be present in our household products, like kitchen utensils. Moreover, researchers of the study claimed that there’s a higher risk for recycled plastics, in particular black plastic products, because products that include recycled e-waste “do not disclose a detailed list of all ingredients and contaminants in the product”.
The researchers analysed 203 household items, including kitchen utensils and children’s toys, for the presence of BFRs. They found that 85% of the products contained flame retardants, such as deca-BDE with concentrations reaching up to 22,800 mg/kg. An exposure assessment indicated that using these contaminated kitchen utensils could lead to a median daily intake of deca-BDE at 34,700 ng/day, significantly exceeding exposure from other common sources like household dust and food.
These findings raise significant concerns and were covered by news outlets, including CBS News and the South China Morning Post.
Problems with the study and Chemosphere
In December 2024, the researchers issued a correction to their study, acknowledging a mathematical error that significantly overstated the risk of contamination.
The study initially claimed that using contaminated kitchen utensils could lead to an estimated daily intake of 34,700 ng/day of deca-BDE, which was reported to be close to the U.S. reference dose of 42,000 ng/day for a 60 kg adult—the minimum level the EPA considers potentially harmful to health.
However, in their corrigendum, they acknowledged that the team miscalculated the dose, which should be 420,000 ng/day. With this correction, the researchers clarified that the estimated intake of BDE-209 is significantly lower than the daily safety limit, attributing the error to a typo. Hence, the estimated intake from utensils was shown to be well below the safety threshold, at less than a tenth of the EPA’s acceptable limit. Additionally, the analysis found that only 8% of 109 kitchen utensils and less than 10% of the 203 household products tested contained flame retardants.
Despite the correction, the researchers maintained that the error does not affect the overall conclusion of the study and stated that any traces of flame retardants or toxic chemicals in cooking utensils should be concerning for the public. However, the miscalculation has raised doubts over the reliability of the study and its findings.
Furthermore, the credibility of the journal that published the study, Chemosphere, also came under scrutiny. Shortly after the corrigendum was announced, the journal was removed from Clarivate’s Web of Science index– a database recognised for including journals that adhere to stringent editorial and publication standards. Its removal was due to the journal failing to meet these quality criteria.
Since April 2024, Chemosphere issued 60 correction notices and eight articles were retracted in December 2024 alone, raising further doubts about its editorial processes. Its removal from the index diminishes its reputation as a reliable platform for scientific research.
Are all black plastic cooking utensils unsafe for use?
While it is true that some black plastic utensils may be made from recycled electronics and could potentially pose health risks, experts emphasise that there is currently insufficient data to confirm that these utensils contain harmful levels of chemicals that could cause health problems through regular use.
The potential risk of black plastic utensils depends on several factors, including the size of the utensil, the cooking temperature, the duration of heat exposure, the amount of contact with food, and the actual concentration of chemicals present. For those concerned about potential exposure, experts recommend opting for alternatives like wood or stainless steel utensils.
Given the questions surrounding the reliability of the study published in Chemosphere and the lack of definitive evidence, we rate the claim that all black plastic cooking utensils are toxic and unsafe for use as unproven.
