“That particular product had up to 22,800 parts per million of total flame retardants — that’s almost 3% by weight,” Liu said. That chemical is a member of the polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDE, class of flame retardants. “I would recommend not using black plastic for food contact materials or buying toys with black plastic pieces,” said Birnbaum, who was not involved in the study. What consumers can doExperts say there are ways that consumers can reduce their risk from flame retardants. “Replace your plastic kitchen utensils with stainless steel options or choose plastic free items to help reduce your overall exposure to harmful additives and plastic,” Liu said.

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Persons: CNN —, ”, Megan Liu, ” Liu, Liu, DecaBDE, decaBDE, toxicologist Linda Birnbaum, “, Birnbaum, ” Erich Shea, ” Shea, that’s, hadn’t, Leonardo Trasande, “ I’m, Trasande, vacuuming, ” Birnbaum Organizations: CNN, Toxic, US Environmental Protection Agency, National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, National Toxicology, Chemistry, ” Manufacturers, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Flame, Alliance, Amsterdam Institute for Life, Vrije Universiteit, “, NYU Langone Health Locations: United States, sofas, Vrije, Amsterdam, New York City