Maybe It's Not Time to Chuck Black Spatulas

A study that led to warnings about the dangers of black plastic utensils may have caused countless spatulas to be thrown away unnecessarily, according to Joe Schwarcz at McGill University. Schwarcz, director of the Canadian university's Office for Science and Society, says researchers at Toxic-Free Future made a mathematical error when calculating how much toxic flame retardant people might be absorbing from black plastic made from recycled electronics.

• The researchers said the average person using the utensils would absorb 34,700 nanograms of BPE-209 per day, approaching what they said was the EPA's safe limit of 42,000 nanograms per day for a 60-kilogram person. But the EPA's limit is 7,000 per kilogram of body weight—and "7,000 times 60 is not 42,000, but 420,000," meaning the "estimated exposure is not even a tenth of the reference dose," Schwarcz writes.
• "I think it does change the flavor of the whole thing somewhat when you're off by a factor of ten in comparing something to the reference value," he tells the National Post.

• "For me, this risk would not be enough to discard a black plastic kitchen item if I had one," Schwarcz writes. He tells the Post that the issue "merits attention" and that the study was apparently correct about e-waste entering the supply chain. "But you have to do it properly, and you have to make sure your numbers are correct before you scare the pants off people," he says.
• Lead author Megan Liu tells the Post that the error was a "typo" and that a correction has been submitted. "However, it is important to note that this does not impact our results," Liu says. "The levels of flame retardants that we found in black plastic household items are still of high concern, and our recommendations remain the same."

(More plastic stories.)