Ars contacted lead author Megan Liu, but did not receive a response. Liu works for Toxic-Free Future, an environmental health advocacy group that led the study.
The study highlighted that flame retardants used in plastic electronics could in some cases be recycled into household products.
“Companies continue to use toxic flame retardants in plastic electronics, resulting in unexpected and unnecessary toxic exposures,” Liu said. October press release. “These carcinogenic chemicals shouldn’t be used in the first place, but they find their way into our environments and homes in a variety of ways through recycling. The high levels we detected are alarming. .”
BDE-209 (also known as decabromodiphenyl ether or decaBDE) was a key ingredient in television and computer housings until it was banned by the European Union in 2006 and by some US states in 2007. . It wasn’t until 2023 that China began restricting BDE-209. Retardants are associated with carcinogenicity, endocrine disruption, neurotoxicity, and reproductive harm.
rare pollutants
The presence of such toxic compounds in household products is important in recognizing the potential dangers in the plastic waste stream. But in addition to finding levels an order of magnitude below safe limits, the study also suggested that contamination is not that common.
The study examined 203 black plastic household items, including 109 kitchen utensils, 36 toys, 30 hair accessories, and 28 food service items. Of these 203 products, only 20 (10%) contained levels of bromine-containing compounds that could indicate contamination with bromine-based flame retardants such as BDE-209. Of the 109 kitchen appliances tested, only nine (8%) contained problematic levels of bromine.
”[A] A small number of black plastic products are contaminated at levels above 50 ppm [bromine]” says the study.
But it’s just a bromine compound. Overall, only 14 of the 203 products specifically contained BDE-209.
The product with the highest level of bromine compounds was disposable sushi plates, at 18,600 ppm. It’s unclear what exposure risk sushi trays pose, given that heating is a major source of chemical leaching. Of the 28 food service items evaluated in this study, only one in two was found to contain bromine compounds: sushi trays. The other was a fast food tray, which reached the contamination threshold of 51 ppm.
