Recycling is, unfortunately, not always good for you. Banned chemicals are finding their way into everyday products made with recycled materials, recent research shows.
Researchers from the nonprofit Toxic-Free Future and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam tested various black plastic items sold in the U.S. — including some that come in contact with food — and detected high levels of flame retardants. Their findings were published in the scientific journal Chemosphere.
Flame retardants are a group of chemicals added to certain materials, from furniture foam to electrical wire coating, to prevent them from catching fire or to slow the burn if they do catch fire.
Some flame retardants are associated with negative health effects, including endocrine and thyroid disruption, immune system and reproductive toxicity, cancer and negative effects on fetal and child development, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The items the researchers tested included kitchen utensils, takeout containers and toys. A majority (85%) tested positive for flame retardants.
The highest levels of flame retardants were found in a spatula, a sushi tray and a beaded necklace. Toxic-Free Future — which advocates for safer products — points to “dirty” plastic recycling as the culprit, referring to the practice of recycling electronics waste for reuse in household products.
These chemicals didn’t show up in small quantities, either. Flame retardants in one item made up 2.3% of its total weight. A sushi takeout tray even tested positive for a banned flame retardant, which made up 1.2% of its total weight.
Flame retardant concentrations were as high as 22,800 parts per million (ppm). Concentrations of one particular chemical, decabromodiphenyl ether (deca-BDE), ranged from five to 1,200 times greater than the European Union’s limit of 10 ppm.
Deca-BDE was the main flame retardant used in electronics casings until the European Union banned it in 2006 and U.S. states started banning it in 2007, according to the study. The U.S. government has since restricted the use of deca-BDE, but its ban “specifically excludes plastics entering the recycling stream or containing recycled content from the limits in the rule,” the researchers wrote.
Another flame retardant detected by the researchers — 2,4,6-tribromophenol, which is one of the chemicals meant to replace deca-BDE — was also recently detected in breast milk, Toxic-Free Future reports.
Study co-author Megan Liu, science and policy manager at Toxic-Free Future, says:
“The Biden administration must support a treaty that will end the use of the most harmful plastics and their toxic additives, even in recycled plastics … The solutions are clear. The health of women and children must be prioritized over the chemical industry profits. We need less poison plastic, more safer chemicals and materials, and an end to plastic ingredient secrecy.”
Some states have already taken action.
Washington state currently has the strongest ban on flame retardants in the U.S., Toxic-Free Future says, which is set to take effect in January 2025. The ban will restrict the use of a subset of flame retardants, called organohalogen flame retardants, in plastic enclosures for indoor electronics. New York also instituted a similar ban, set to take effect in December 2024.
Toxic-Free Future points to other studies that demonstrate how chemicals escape from products and end up in the dust and air in our homes, and pollute water and food supplies. This enables flame retardants to pollute our own bodies, they say.
Toxic-Free Future provides a Retailer Report Card for consumers, though, that ranks retailers based on their use of these chemicals. You can check it out for yourself.
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