Toxic Flame Retardants in Recycled Plastics
From e-waste to living space: flame retardants contaminating household items add to concern about plastic recycling
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’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. This peer-reviewed study led by Toxic-Free Future found that some toxic chemicals are entering plastic products through the back door—via contaminated recycled plastic.
Our researchers 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 is the truth about recycling?
When it comes to plastic, it’s now abundantly clear that recycling can’t turn plastic into a safe and sustainable material. The only real solution is to reduce our reliance on plastic by moving to safer and reusable materials.
From the Experts
“Companies continue to use toxic flame retardants in plastic electronics, and that’s resulting in unexpected and unnecessary toxic exposures. 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. The high levels we found are concerning.”
Megan Liu
Study co-author and science and policy manager at Toxic-Free Future
“These results clearly demonstrate that flame retardant-containing electronics, such as the outer casings of large TVs, are being recycled into food storage containers and utensils. While it’s critical to develop sustainable approaches when addressing our plastic waste stream, we should exert some caution and ensure we’re not contributing to additional exposures to these hazardous chemicals in recycled materials.”
Heather Stapleton
Ronie-Richele Garcia-Johnson Distinguished Professor at Duke University
“The Biden administration must support a treaty that will end the use of the most harmful plastics and their toxic additives, even in recycled plastics. The solutions are clear. The health of women and children must be prioritized over the chemical industry profits. We need less poison plastic, more safer chemicals and materials, and an end to plastic ingredient secrecy. As world leaders convene in South Korea this November, they have an opportunity to put women’s reproductive health and cancer prevention first by turning off the tap on toxic plastics.”
Megan Liu
Study co-author and science and policy manager at Toxic-Free Future
“Major retailers must ensure the products they sell, from children’s toys to kitchen spatulas, are not introducing banned cancer-causing chemicals into our homes. As businesses introduce more and more recycled materials into everyday products, retailers must require suppliers to test them to ensure toxic chemicals aren’t hiding in these recycled plastics. Retailers must mind the store and prohibit these toxic chemicals in products, especially in recycled plastics.”
Mike Schade
Director of Mind the Store, Toxic-Free Future
Essential Elements for a Toxic-Free Future
Transparency
The study found that large retailers had no more success than small retailers in keeping these toxic flame retardants out of household items they sell. The complete lack of information on ingredients and contaminants in this kind of product makes it very difficult for retailers to avoid this type of contamination. Requiring manufacturers to provide full transparency on ingredients and contaminants in their products would help retailers as well as manufacturers sell and make safer products.
Ban the bad
Toxic flame retardants are present in household items where they are not intentionally used because companies use these toxic chemicals in electronics. Plastics known for use in electronics (ABS and HIPS) were found to contain significantly higher levels of flame retardants than plastics not associated with electronics (e.g. polypropylene and polyamide nylon). Company and government policies that stop the use of toxic chemicals in products and ban the most harmful plastics would prevent this problem.
Safer solutions
We see dirty recycling and contamination of household products with toxic chemicals because companies that make electronics and other products are overly reliant on plastic and toxic plastic additives. Commitment by companies and support from governments can move manufacturers toward safer solutions that do not rely on plastic and toxic plastic additives.