If you tend to rinse, reuse and recycle the black plastic containers that your takeout orders arrive in, it’s time to get out of that habit. While it might seem more sustainable to reuse (and eventually recycle) these containers, new research shows that many types of black plastics contain harmful flame retardants that shouldn’t be coming into contact with food. (That means the black plastic spatula you use to scramble your eggs should get tossed, too.)
Here’s what you should know about black plastic items in your kitchen (and elsewhere) and why you should throw them in the trash, not the recycle bin.
Research shows that black plastic contains toxic flame retardants, probably due to contamination during recycling.
A study published this month in Chemosphere looked at samples of different black plastic objects, from kids toys to sushi trays to black plastic food containers and utensils. They screened these black plastic items for bromine, an element used to make brominated flame retardants (BFRs) that are purposely added to products like electronics and furniture to make them less flammable. Of the samples that contained bromine, 85 percent contained BFRs, which aren’t considered safe for consumption at any level. The item with the highest level of BFRs (black costume pirate beads meant for kids) had a huge amount of BFRs, almost 3 percent by weight.
One type of BFR in particular, called decabromodiphenyl ether of decaBDE, was banned in the U.S. in 2021 (although manufacturers had until 2023 to remove it from their products) because research showed it was linked to the development of cancer, brain development and other health issues. Yet, decaBDE was found in nearly three-quarters of the black plastic items tested.
How did toxic chemicals find their way into kitchen products?
To be clear, manufacturers aren’t adding flame retardants to black plastic kitchen items on purpose. Instead, the new study explains that these toxic compounds are making their way into the black plastic supply through the recycling of black plastic electronics. BFRs and other flame retardants are added to these appliances to reduce the risk of them catching on fire, and when the electronics get recycled alongside other types of black plastic, they contaminate the whole lot. “The detection of FRs in collected household products indicates that recycling, without the necessary transparency and restrictions to ensure safety, is resulting in unexpected exposure to toxic flame retardants in household items,” the study reads.
Many recycling facilities don’t actually recycle black plastic because the carbon used to make the plastic black prevents it from being detected and identified as plastic by the sorting machines in these facilities. So, black plastic from recycled electronics sometimes gets used by manufacturers who can’t find recycled black plastic elsewhere.
As it turns out, the recycling of black plastic has been an issue for a while. An older 2018 study looked at black plastic items like toys, utensils and jewelry and found that 40 percent of the items contained harmful chemicals like lead, mercury, and flame retardants.
What should you do with black plastic items?
The study authors of both the 2018 and 2024 studies admit that there’s no easy solution to the black plastic contamination problem. The conclusion of the earlier study states that totally removing toxic chemicals from black plastic “is now only possible through the manufacture of black goods from virgin materials” — in other words, by not recycling black plastic and creating it all anew. The later study ends with a call for stricter regulations on toxic chemicals in black plastics, including requiring manufacturers to disclose the content of contaminants in their products, restricting the use of these chemicals, and prohibiting the recycling of black plastics that contain these contaminants.
In terms of what you can do to protect yourself and your household, 2024 study author Megan Liu told CNN that she recommends getting rid of black plastic kitchen utensils and replacing them with stainless steel or other plastic-free alternatives, and using glass, stainless steel or ceramic containers to store or heat food.
If you choose to get rid of the black plastic items you have in your kitchen, you should throw them in the trash instead of the recycling bin. Yes, they’ll end up in a landfill which presents its own sustainability issues. But it’s better than letting them re-enter the plastic recycling chain to further contaminate other black plastics.