The Study That Called Out Black Plastic Utensils Had a Major Math Error
WiredEditors of the environmental chemistry journal Chemosphere have posted an eye-catching correction to a study reporting toxic flame retardants from electronics wind up in some household products made of black plastic, including kitchen utensils. Specifically, the authors estimated that if a kitchen utensil contained middling levels of a key toxic flame retardant, the utensil would transfer 34,700 nanograms of the contaminant a day based on regular use while cooking and serving hot food. The EPA's safe level is 7,000 ng—per kilogram of body weight—per day, and the authors used 60 kg as the adult weight for their estimate. "e miscalculated the reference dose for a 60 kg adult, initially estimating it at 42,000 ng/day instead of the correct value of 420,000 ng/day," the correction reads.
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