Editors of the environmental chemistry journal Chemosphere have posted a correction to a study that sparked alarm about toxic flame retardants in kitchen utensils. The original study estimated that people who used these utensils daily would be exposed to nearly 13 times more than the safe limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
However, the authors made a math error that put the risk from kitchen utensils off by an order of magnitude. The mistake was caused by a misreported reference level for toxic flame retardant BDE-209. After recalculating, the corrected study found that exposure to these utensils is still higher than safe limits, but not nearly as dire as initially stated.
The corrected statement maintains the overall finding that plastic products, including kitchen utensils, significantly contain and pose a high risk of toxin exposure.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/health/2024/12/huge-math-error-corrected-in-black-plastic-study-authors-say-it-doesnt-matter