Toxic Electronics Chemicals Found in Children’s Toys and Kitchen Utensils: Study

A new study found that flame retardants from recycled electronics are contaminating black plastic kitchen items, toys, and food containers.

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That black plastic spatula in your kitchen drawer might be harboring toxic flame retardants from recycled electronics that could leach into your family’s food.

A recent study of commonly used black plastic household products has raised red flags about safety, revealing that many items, including kitchen utensils, toys, and food containers, are laced with flame retardants that have been linked to cancer and developmental problems in children.

The investigation, which examined 203 black plastic products purchased from local Seattle retailers and online platforms between 2020 and 2022, found concerning levels of flame retardants.

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“Out of the products we tested, the product categories with the most concerning and high-risk sources of exposure to flame retardants are food-contact material, kitchen utensils and food service-ware items, and toys,” Megan Liu, study co-author, told The Epoch Times.

“These categories are particularly concerning because flame retardants have been found to leach out of kitchen utensils and into food, as well as out of toys into children through saliva by mouthing of toys,” she said.

The authors said that these toxins are likely introduced to plastic products through plastic recycling.

The study highlighted the need for stricter regulations on harmful chemicals that inadvertently find their way into everyday products.

Electronic Waste: A Source of Contamination

The items researched included 109 kitchen utensils, 36 toys, 30 hair accessories, and 28 food containers, including takeout trays.

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The researchers identified electronic recycling facilities as the likely source of flame retardants. Electronic plastics often contain flame retardants for safety considerations.

“Plastics from electronics are often recycled and can be incorporated in household items that do not require flame retardancy, resulting in potentially high and unnecessary exposure,” the authors wrote.

“These cancer-causing chemicals shouldn’t be used to begin with, but with recycling, they are entering our environment and our homes in more ways than one,” Liu, science and policy manager at Toxic-Free Future, a research and advocacy nonprofit organization, said.

The study noted that flame retardants have been found in and around e-waste recycling facilities and in indoor air and dust at formal recycling sites in Canada, China, Spain, and the United States. Soil samples collected near e-waste recycling locations in China and Vietnam also contained the harmful substances.

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These findings “provide further evidence” that the recycling of electronics containing flame retardants leads to exposure for both humans and the environment, the researchers wrote.

Of the items investigated, beaded necklaces made for children registered the highest level of flame retardants, at 22,800 milligrams per kilogram, Liu said.

“Children are a vulnerable population, and it is really concerning to think that they could be exposed to these flame retardants that are associated with carcinogenicity, endocrine disruption, neurotoxicity, and reproductive and developmental toxicity at early ages,” Liu said.

Recent research published in the journal Nature has linked elevated blood levels of flame retardants in American adults to lung dysfunction.

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Studies of flame retardants conducted in Europe, Asia, and Africa also found evidence of flame retardants, which were not included intentionally in the manufacturing process, in other products such as hair accessories and office supplies.

Flame Retardants Found in Breast Milk

The researchers launched their investigation because of concerns about human exposure to harmful flame retardants used in electronics.

“We know that the black plastic used for electronic enclosures, such as TV casings, have intentionally added flame retardants,” Liu said. But according to her, finding these chemicals in breast milk for the first time was an unexpected and alarming discovery.

After reading studies on flame retardants from other countries, the researchers decided to investigate whether the same kind of contamination was occurring in the United States.

“Previous studies have found flame retardants in products purchased in the UK, African and Arabic countries, and Russia, China, and Indonesia, but this is the first U.S. testing of critical products such as toys and food-contact materials,” Liu said.

Study Detects Banned Flame Retardants

Electronic products that are manufactured with flame retardants, such as DecaBDE, have been shown to cause severe adverse health effects, including neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, and cancer.

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A global ban on DecaBDE has recently been proposed at the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, according to the Center for International Environmental Law. Nevertheless, DecaBDE was still detected in some of the plastics the researchers tested.

The study authors point to three main issues—the continuous use of hazardous flame retardants in widely produced consumer products, lack of restriction on their use, and poorly controlled recycling practices—as the root cause of the contamination of the items in contact with food and children.

“We can’t shop our way out of the problem, and what we really need are restrictions on the most harmful chemicals and materials, such as toxic flame retardants and hazardous plastics, at both the corporate and government level,” Liu said.

According to Liu, safer alternatives exist. “Having restrictions in place will help move the market toward safer solutions,” she said. “We need restrictions to turn off the tap on harmful chemicals and plastics, which will help protect the health of everyone, especially vulnerable populations such as women and children.”