Black plastic cooking utensils may leach toxic compounds into food, which could lead to cancer and other health problems, according to a recent study. Due to their affordability and dependability, black plastic utensils are widely used in kitchens across the world.
Why Are These Kitchen Utensils Bad?
We’ve been using them since the 1970s. Benjamin Turner, Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham talks to WVTM 13 about how these utensils used to be safe but no longer are. According to the Toxic-Free Future report, black plastic toys, hair accessories, culinary utensils, and containers have significant concentrations of harmful flame retardants. Recycled electronics are frequently found in these dark polymers. Those chemicals can be released into the food, so they leach out if heat is increased, Turner explained. Turner clarified that handling hot food with black plastic utensils can cause dangerous chemicals to seep into the dish.
It frequently interferes with growth and development, neurological issues, the reproductive system, and the endocrine system. Some of the toxins in black plastic kitchen utensils were at dangerous levels, according to the original study’s wrong conclusion. Ten per cent of such levels were seen in the actual results. The study does, however, continue to show a high correlation between cancer and other disorders. There’s a lot of information out there, and it can be really scary, Crystal Mullen-Johnson, a Birmingham therapist and CEO of Strive Counselling told WVTM 13. Numerous studies, like this one, point to possible risks to human health.
What Is In These Utensils?
Decabromodiphenyl ether, or decaBDE for short, is a flame retardant that was found at 11,900 parts per million in a black plastic sushi tray. That substance belongs to the class of flame retardants known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs.
An April 2024 study found that the risk of dying from cancer was almost 300% higher for those with the highest blood levels of PBDEs than for those with the lowest levels.
After being connected to cancer, thyroid and endocrine problems, foetal and child development, neurobehavioral function, and toxicity to the immunological and reproductive systems, decaBDE was completely outlawed by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2021.
According to study experts, a person may be exposed to an average of 34.7 parts per million of decaBDE every day if they use contaminated black plastic kitchen tools such as slotted spoons and spatulas.
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