Your Black Plastic Sushi Tray May Contain Banned Flame Retardants, New Study Says

Common items made with black plastic in our daily lives, from sushi containers to spatulas, may be exposing us to high levels of flame retardants that can have a harmful effect on our health, according to a new study.

While the knowledge that our household items may contain chemicals that can leach, or release, dangerous chemicals is alarming enough, the study also places a spotlight on what happens when harmful chemicals are allowed to be used in plastic production.

The study. Scientists from Toxic-Free Future, an environmental and health research group, partnered with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam to conduct the study, which was published in Chemosphere this week.

The study screened a total of 203 common household products made with black plastic, including kitchen utensils, food takeout trays, hair accessories, and toys. It aimed to determine whether the products contained flame retardant chemicals, which are commonly used in consumer electronic products to prevent fires. The authors focused on black plastic, which is used in most electronics enclosures, because they hypothesized that some items on the U.S. market were likely made with plastic from recycled electronics.

Of the products they analyzed, 85% contained toxic flame retardant chemicals. One of the chemicals identified was decabromodiphenyl ether, also known as deca-BDE, a compound widely used in electronics casings that was banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2021 after it was linked to cancer, thyroid disease, neurodevelopmental disorders, and other health problems.

A sushi tray, a spatula, and a beaded necklace. The items with the highest levels of flame retardant chemicals were a sushi tray, a spatula, and a beaded necklace, according to Toxic-Free Future.

In an interview with CNN, Linda Birnbaum, a toxicologist and the former director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, said it was concerning that researchers found flame retardants that aren’t supposed to be used anymore. Birnbaum was not involved in the study.

“I would recommend not using black plastic for food contact materials or buying toys with black plastic pieces,” Birnbaum said.

A staple of everyday life. To be clear, flame retardants are present in lot of household products and have a good purpose: to prevent fires and decrease their intensity. Flame retardants are included in a variety of products, including electronics, home furnishings such as mattresses or carpets, and building materials.

When it comes to electronics, these already have a potential ignition source built in their essential components, including circuit boards, transformers, batteries, and connectors, according to the American Chemistry Association. The industry group argues that flame retardants are essential safety tools and points out that the average home has more than 20 electronic products, including TVs, smartphones, computers, gaming systems, and tablets.

The ask: a ban on toxic chemicals in plastic. Toxic-Free Future is using the study as a rallying call to pressure U.S. government officials to advocate for a ban on hazardous chemicals in plastics at the upcoming United Nations session to negotiate a global plastics treaty in Busan, South Korea.

“Since receiving the results for this study, I have replaced all my black plastic kitchen utensils with plastic-free wooden or stainless steel ones,” Megan Liu, a science and policy manager at Toxic-Free Future and one of the study’s authors, said in a blog post. “Policymakers and retailers should make sure these toxic chemicals and plastics are replaced with safer solutions so we can cook and play knowing the products we use are safe.”

Image | David Jackmanson

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