Study finds you should throw away specific kitchen utensil for very important health reason
A study has discovered that a specific type of kitchen utensil that you should throw in the bin immediately.
Experts have long being telling us to be more vigilant in the kitchen, with how we wash our dishes and even the type of chopping board we use potentially putting out health at risk.
But there's one utensil a lot of us have in out kitchen drawers we should definitely get rid of, with some studies suggesting it's putting us at an increased risk of cancer.
It turns out that in the modern era, the age of recycling and trying to make the most of old materials, it could come back to bite us in a health sense.
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In 2018, Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth, published an insightful paper that revealed that a certain product was likely being made from recycled electronic waste, which was evident through its high levels of flame retardants.
It turns out that the material is made from a mix of chemicals found in computer and television housing that was recycled, with these being treated with flame retardants to stop them from catching fire.
Optical sensors in recycling facilities can't detect these, with TV and computer casings, along with the rest of the world's waste, being recycled with few regulations and being remolded into consumer products - including kitchen utensils.
The material in question is called black plastic, and many cheaper kitchen utensils - spatulas, fish slices and serving spoons, for instance - are made from this recycled material, which can result in it coming into contact with food when you cook with it.
Heat can cause harmful plastic compounds to 'migrate' out of these plastics, as Turner explained that flame retardants are not bound to these utensils, meaning you ought to keep them away from your stir-fry.
The chemicals in flame retardants can interfere with your body's hormonal system, while other published papers suggest that they could be linked to diabetes, thyroid disease, or even cancer.
People with the highest blood levels of PBDEs, a class of flame retardants that are found in black plastic, had a 300 percent increase in dying from cancer compared to people with the lowest levels, according to a separate health study.
A different study, which was published by advocacy group Toxic-Free Future last month, found that kitchen utensils had the highest levels of flame retardants of all consumer products tested.
Children's toys also rank high in the list, as Megan Liu, the science and policy manager at Toxic-Free Future and the first author on the study, told the Atlantic: “When you’re using black plastic items, there’s going to be a risk that they could be contaminated.”
Though recycling all types of plastic may seem like the right thing to do, it turns out that it may not be the wisest move.
“I personally have been throwing out my black plastic takeout containers,” Liu explained.
She added: “It’s scary to think that those might be reentering other products with the same flame retardants.”
Replacing these black plastic utensils with steel or silicone utensils could be life savers, and stop flame retardants from messing with your body.
Topics: Health, Science, Technology, Environment
Joshua Nair