Black Plastic Concerns

There's always a time during any social gathering I attend where my friends gather round, and I share a story about...plastic. (and yet, they keep inviting me back! :) This weekend, I celebrated a "Friendsgiving," and we talked about black plastic in the kitchen. There's been a number of news stories about this material lately (even Katie Couric is writing about it!).  Our #1 tip for this week is to remove black plastic from your kitchen or at a minimum, reduce your usage of it with hot food.  We explain why and recap some of the recent stories in this week's newsletter.

LEARN

Black plastic is a fairly ubiquitous material in most of our kitchens. Larger cooking utensils such as serving spoons and spatulas are made from this, as well as reusable food storage containers. Plus many take out meals come in black plastic. However, research is emerging that illustrates just because this product can be used widely doesn't mean it should.
What's black plastic made of? Think about plastic when you see it in the store - generally it's clear.  However black plastic is made from discarded plastic. Most often, it is plastic used in electronics, such as the outer casings of TVs or computers. Finding a new way to use discarded plastic sounds like a good idea on its face, until we look more closely at what's in plastic and especially this kind.

Remind me - what's plastic made of?
Plastic is made from fossil fuels and chemical additives. There are currently over 16,000 different chemical additives that could bs used in plastic. The problem is that for a number of these - close to 50% - there is NO safety data on whatsoever - and about 25% of them are KNOWN carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, or neurotoxicants. Plastic chemicals also leach or "migrate" into our food, particularly when exposed to heat.  

And the problem?
Plastic used to make electronics generally contains flame retardant chemicals for safety purposes. These flame retardants have many of the health concerns listed above - they have been linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity and endocrine disruption. The problem is something which was never designed to come into contact with food has now been recycled and repurposed to be used in our kitchens. And, many of these plastics ARE used around hot food, which we want to avoid due to the chemical migration that can increase with heat. This, according to the October study which found high levels of flame retardants in black plastic objects, is resulting in unnecessary and potentially high exposure to these chemicals lined with health issues.

We are exposed to environmental toxins on a daily basis. They are simply unavoidable in our developed and modern world. We cannot totally eliminate exposure, but we can reduce our risk.

DO

We realize that many of our readers probably have black plastic in their kitchen!  We do too.  Here are some practical suggestions from us:

1. If you choose to discard black plastic utensils, DO NOT donate them. Don't continue the cycle of exposing others to this material. Throw them away, or repurpose them for a non-kitchen related task. 

2. It is generally not feasible for people to replace all of their kitchen utensils at once. Start with your favorites/most commonly used ones - especially if they are used for hot food. The highest risk of chemical migration is when plastic is exposed to heat (This is a good reminder to not microwave anything in plastic). Replace your spatulas and soup ladles first.

3. We think it is probably ok to continue using these for cold or ambient temperature foods like serving salads or chips. Keep in mind plastic chemicals also like fatty foods - so dress the salad after you serve it.

4. When you get takeout in black plastic, remove it from the container. Don't store them in the container, and don't reheat in the container.

5. We recommend moving away from these for food storage. We know, they are convenient and they stack nicely.  Again, avoid hot food storage first. If you want to continue using for cold or ambient temperature storage, that's ok.

6. It may come as a surprise but black plastic itself is NOT recyclable! It cannot be found by the optical sorters in recycling facilities. So throw it out, not in your bin. We have also repurposed them to store things like small toys, pens and pencils, etc.

7. Replace your black utensils with wood or stainless steel. What about Silicone? We are aware there are also some concerns about using silicone with hot food. We take the position that it is an improvement over the black plastic.  

8. Try not to panic! This can feel scary and overwhelming. Using these utensils to cook dinner tonight is not going to kill you. Think about it as reducing exposure and risk. Like any healthier option, choosing it some of the time is better than never choosing it.

9. Finally, remember that this is not the consumers fault. Why would we have any reason to think twice about our spatulas if scientists weren't looking into it for us? Email your favorite retailer and ask them to carry options which are not black plastic, and email your local rep to share your concerns!