Fact Sheet

Summary

We’ve come to expect plastics in nearly every kind of product, from toys and food packaging to building materials and apparel, and we know that many plastics contain toxic ingredients. Now, peer-reviewed research led by Toxic-Free Future has found some toxic chemicals are entering plastic products through the back door—via contaminated recycled plastic. Specifically, toxic flame retardants, linked to cancer and endocrine disruption, are showing up where they’re not expected: in black plastic household products including a takeout sushi tray, spatulas and other kitchen utensils, as well as costume beads, travel games, and other toys.

We found flame retardants usually associated with electronics, such as chemicals used in television casings, in ordinary household products that don’t need flame retardancy. Their presence is likely due to use of plastics that come from electronic waste (e-waste) recycling. People are already exposed to flame retardants at home and work when these chemicals escape the electronics they’re used in, but these new detections of flame retardants indicate we may be exposed in other ways as well.

What we found

Household products made from black plastic contained toxic flame retardants put into electronics.

Most of the hundreds of toys, kitchen utensils, and food serviceware items we screened appeared to be free of organohalogen flame retardants (OFRs), but a disturbing number contained these toxic chemicals. The 20 products with the highest levels of bromine, an indicator of brominated flame retardants, were selected for flame retardant analysis.

In summary, we found:

17 out of 20 products analyzed (85%) contained brominated and/or organophosphate flame retardants.
Flame retardants contaminated toys and food serviceware including a sushi tray, kitchen utensils, and hair accessories at levels up 22,800 ppm, which is nearly 3% of the total weight of the product. For comparison, our most recent testing of TV casings found flame retardants at levels starting at about 5% by weight.
We found the banned cancer-causing flame retardant deca-BDE far too commonly: 14 products contained this flame retardant at levels between 5 to 1,200 times greater than the European Union’s limit of 10 mg/kg.
We also found a brominated flame retardant used as a replacement, 2,4,6-tribromophenol, in a majority (70%) of products analyzed.
Products made with the kinds of plastics used in electronics were more highly contaminated, with median levels 40 times higher in the styrene-based plastics typically found in electronics casing.
Since flame retardants can migrate out of plastics into food, cooking with contaminated utensils could contribute significantly to exposure to toxic flame retardants.

Harmful plastics used for electronics had the most flame retardants.

As part of this study, we wanted to know if the most harmful plastics, such as those based on cancer-causing styrene, had more flame retardants.

Not surprisingly, we found that plastics known for use in electronics, ABS and HIPS, had higher levels of flame retardants than others, like polypropylene and polyamide nylon. Our finding provides more evidence of the need to phase out these harmful plastics.

Organohalogen and organophosphate flame retardants: toxic chemicals of concern

Organohalogen flame retardants (OFRs) are a problematic class of chemicals known to last a long time in the environment, build up in people and wildlife, and cause health problems including cancer, harm to brain development, and reproductive harm. Despite these serious issues, they are still used in a variety of applications, including electronic and electrical equipment, wires and cables, and insulation. Flame retardants escape from products and contaminate indoor air, household dust, and water, making their way into our bodies and into wildlife. Previous testing by Toxic-Free Future has found OFRs in television enclosures and recently, we found both phased-out and replacement OFRs in human breast milk.

While exposure to flame retardants from their intentional use in certain products was already a concern, new findings reveal we’re also being exposed through unexpected contamination from e-waste. Contamination of toys and food-contact materials is especially worrisome: studies have shown that kids can be exposed when they mouth contaminated toys and that flame retardants in kitchen utensils can leach into food during cooking.

Some flame retardants in some products have been banned, but widespread regulation of flame retardants as a broader class is lacking. OFRs are still in use in many products, as are other types of flame retardants like organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs). While some OPFRs have been identified as safer alternatives to OFRs, some are linked to effects on human health and/or aquatic toxicity. Without regulations to end the use of harmful chemicals and regulate recycling practices, toxic flame retardants will continue to enter our homes through the back door and show up in products where they’re not needed.

Safer solutions

Market and policy solutions

These disturbing findings demonstrate the consequences of lack of regulation of chemicals in products and lack of transparency in the supply chain. Makers of electronics can still use toxic flame retardants in enclosures and other parts that go into the recycling stream, making the use of plastic content unsafe in many cases. In all likelihood, the majority of companies using this recycled plastic for new products have no information about the presence of flame retardants or other toxics, making it challenging to ensure the products they make are safe. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, restrictions on highly hazardous flame retardants in electronics are limited. Only two states in the U.S., Washington and New York, have banned the use of the most harmful flame retardants in electronics. Elsewhere, electronics manufacturers can still use toxic flame retardants in enclosures that wind up in the recycling stream.

This issue has come into sharp focus because governments are increasing requirements for more recycled plastic content, but most do not restrict the highly hazardous plastics like styrene or the persistent bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals like OFRs that may contaminate them. In addition, leaders around the world are negotiating a Global Plastics Treaty that will chart a course for how quickly and effectively the plastics crisis is addressed. The results from our study add to a growing body of evidence that plastics are harmful, and as negotiations for the treaty get finalized this fall, they present an opportunity for the U.S. and other governments to start on a path to phase out these harmful plastics and additives and move companies toward safer solutions.

The ultimate solution includes avoiding harmful materials, such as styrene-based plastics. We also need policy and market change to increase transparency of chemical and plastic use in the supply chain, including for recycled materials; ban the use of harmful chemicals and plastics; and require the use of safer solutions. With plastics relying on multiple toxic additives and harmful production processes, most safer solutions will be plastic-free. We need leadership from governments and from the private sector, aggressively pursuing the Four Essential Elements for a Toxic-Free Future.

What policy makers, manufacturers, and retailers should do:

It is clear that the most rational approach to addressing the most hazardous chemicals and plastics is prevention. Policies at the corporate and government level must include:

Transparency of chemicals in plastics and products: Retailers, product manufacturers, and suppliers should disclose all the ingredients in their products and packaging and assess them for hazard.
Bans on the most hazardous chemicals and plastics: Local, state, and federal policy makers should follow the lead of New York and Washington in restricting the use of harmful organohalogen flame retardants. Bans on plastics made from cancer-causing chemicals like styrene and benzene should be adopted.
Investment and adoption of the safest solutions: When retailers, product manufacturers, and suppliers eliminate harmful flame retardants, they must ensure that any substitutes they use are assessed for hazard and found to be safer. To avoid chemicals of high concern, all substitutes should be chemicals assessed as GreenScreen Benchmark-2 or higher. We know this is possible. Best Buy has done this as it has begun to replace OFRs in the electronic casings of its private-label televisions.
Shifting away from toxic plastic: As leaders around the world finalize the negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty in fall of 2024, the U.S. and governments around the world must ensure that the treaty leads to a phaseout and reduction of the most toxic plastics, dangerous chemical plastic additives like OFRs, and that the treaty ensures these chemicals are also restricted in recycled materials.

What you can do to protect your family:

Ask retailers to ban OFRs and other toxic flame retardants in plastics, including recycled plastics.
Contact your state representatives and urge them to pass legislation banning OFRs and other toxic flame retardants in plastics, including recycled plastics.
Reduce your exposure to dust by frequent hand washing, regular wet-dusting and mopping, and vacuuming.
When possible, choose plastic-free when purchasing any item to reduce your overall exposure to harmful additives in plastic.
Choose electronics products that minimize plastic parts, and if possible, purchase from companies like HP and Apple that have strong policies to avoid toxic chemicals in their products.
Try to avoid plastic kitchen utensils by switching to stainless steel or wooden utensils.