New study shows 2024 black spatula panic based on bad math, still not safe

An error in a recent study over the use of black plastics in the kitchen may not mitigate the safety concerns

The Atlantic put out a widely read article last year calling for people to throw out their black plastic spatulas

The study cited a report from Toxic Free Future that said those spatulas expose you to 80 percent of the daily EPA limit for a chemical called BDE-209

That's a flame retardant widely used in electronic devices like televisions. Sometimes those items get recycled and the chemical ends up in kitchen instruments

But a new report from New York Magazine showed that 80 percent number was a mathematical error and the real number was only 8 percent

Toxic Free Future acknowledged the error, but says it doesn't take away from the overall message that these plastics aren't healthy in the kitchen

Straight Arrow News spoke with two professors and researchers who agreed. Similar studies have already been done showing the same concern about these recycled electronic plastics getting into food contact materials

It is a well issue by say the Food Packaging Forum in the EU that is a leader on a lot of this type of research That specific study does not stand alone It part of a body of science that indicates harmful flame retardants and other chemicals in black plastic widely

The concern over black plastic specifically is because that's the color plastic often used when

making electronics. Both Singla and Brander agree. Recycling is not the problem here

But the way it's done and how things are made in the first place need adjusting

We want to be able to recycle more, but we also want to make sure that people aren't being exposed to chemicals that were phased out, in this case, a couple of decades ago

The fact that any of these products have harmful and toxic chemicals is the root of the problem

If you don't have toxic chemicals in products, then you're not going to have a problem with recycling

So should you throw out that black plastic spatula or not? I don't want to pressure people who are either financially constrained or logistically constrained because we're all doing the best we can

Your best option is probably stainless steel. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Lauren Keenan

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