Are plastic cutting boards safe?

Long ago, humans chopped and ground meat and vegetables Natural surfaces such as rocks. Ultimately, we decided to replace these stones . Recently, many home chefs, restaurants and food producers have turned to it For comfort, lightweight and cost-effectiveness.

But recent research points to a potential downside: The cutting action of the knives causes the plastic sheets to release tiny pieces, called microplastics, into the cut food. The potential impact of these plastic parts on health depends on many factors that are still being studied.

Here’s what researchers say about plastic panels and whether you should replace them with another material.

What happens to the plastic in the cutting board?

Emerging research suggests that when people consume microplastics from various sources, e.g It can be absorbed by body tissues. Some scientists believe that such uptake may lead to chronic inflammation and oxidative stress, problems that increase the risk of cancer Health problems.

However, some microplastics, including those found in plastic cutting boards, may be too large for our bodies to absorb.

Studies show that when we cut plastic sheets, microplastics are produced and mixed into the food. A single knife strike can release between 100 and 300 pieces of microplastic, according to one source. analysis. الأبحاث لديها It is shown About 50% of the microplastics released remain on the cutting board after cutting and go down the drain when the board is washed (maybe good for you, but not good for sewage contamination). The other 50% we consume.

In 2023, a team of scientists at North Dakota State University Found Microplastics were released into the islands after being shredded onto plastic sheets. Based on their laboratory work, the team predicted significant exposure to microplastics from regular use of plastic sheets for a year. But they only looked for relatively large microplastics, says Syed Iskander, an assistant professor of environmental engineering and corresponding author of the study.

Read more: What happens to the plastic in dishwasher containers?

According to some research, only the smallest plastic particles can enter Liver cells . أوراق أخرى لديها forecast In general, the body’s organs can only absorb microplastic particles that are less than 10 microns in size. (A micron is one-thousandth of a millimeter.) Larger pieces may pass through the digestive tract without harm.

Iskandar believes that if his team’s methods allowed them to monitor small plastic particles, they would likely find a lot more of them. In another He studiesresearchers in the United Arab Emirates studied microplastic contamination of raw fish and chicken on plastic cutting boards used by butchers. They only found particles 15.6 microns or larger (although forced chopping by butchers may result in different sizes of microplastic compared to home preparation).

“Size distribution is important when it comes to health, because that determines whether that material will pass through or permeate the body,” says Stephanie Wright, an associate professor at Imperial College London who studies microplastics and health. Wright adds that the microplastics found in the North Dakota and UAE studies “are typically considered too large to cross the gastrointestinal tract” to the rest of the body.

The UAE study also found that washing food after cutting it — for one minute with running tap water — removes small amounts of microplastics, but the vast majority stick to the food, says Tess Thiemann, study author and professor of chemistry at UAE University.

The search for particle size has not been settled. According to some studiesLarger microplastics can move through body barriers.

Microplastics can pose a risk regardless of their size

Size may be just one determining factor in whether microplastics found in cutting boards affect health. Some scientists say chemicals from microplastics can still cause problems, even if the microplastics themselves pass through and out of the body.

Heat is studied as a factor. After the chopped food is mixed with microplastics, it is often sent to the oven, stovetop, or microwave. Because microplastics contain many chemical additives and have “They may decompose and release these chemicals, especially if cooked at high temperatures,” Iskander explains. “The chemicals can easily end up in our blood.”

During frying or pressure cooking, “the heat will definitely encourage the migration of the added chemicals out of the plastic,” says Wright. She adds that cooking oils and fatty meats promote this migration.

Read more: What happens to the plastic in single-serve coffee pods?

The same problem occurs in reverse when food is fully cooked and then cut and scraped while steaming on plastic plates, a common practice in restaurants, Iskandar points out.

Research has not directly linked the use of plastic cutting boards to effects on human health, but it has been explored in animals. هذا العام العلماء في الصين Feed mice diets It is prepared on panels made of different types of plastic. Another group ate food made on wooden boards. After a few months, the group of wooden plates was in good condition, but the mice whose food was cut on plastic plates had more intestinal infections and disturbances in their gut bacteria.

This is true even though no microplastics were found in the mice’s bodies, suggesting that chemicals released by microplastics may be responsible.

The authors stressed that their findings do not apply directly to humans. They also noted that mice were intentionally given high doses of microplastics to simulate one year of exposure, but over a relatively short period of time. In the future, lower doses should be studied. “It’s difficult to extrapolate animal research to much lower exposures every day,” says Wright, who was not involved in the study.

In our kitchens, exposure levels can vary based on additional factors, such as how forcefully you cut—harder food requires more forceful knife strokes—and the frequency of cutting. (Buying ready-made, highly processed foods to avoid cutting is not the answer; studies are ongoing finds Ultra-processed foods contain the most microplastics.)

Another issue is how long you have been on your board. Researchers in the UAE found that plastic panels release more microplastics as they wear down with increased use. “Repetitive behaviors and repeated exposures are probably very important when we think about long-term health outcomes,” Wright says.

Plastics and chemical additives used in cutting boards sold in the United States must meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety requirements in order to “reasonably ensure that no harm will occur,” says Kimberly Wise White, vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs at the American Chemistry Council, a trade association. “That means [plastic] “The polymer used to make the board must be compatible with any additives,” White says.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) It is recommended On its website, it states that plastic cutting boards can be used “without worry of impact on one’s health.”

But so is the research on microplastics Nascent. The World Health Organization is Setting priorities The need to address “known and foreseeable health risks.” the European Food Safety Authority He says more research is needed, in part because many studies are believed to have overestimated amounts of microplastic through faulty measurements. “There’s a lot of uncertainty,” says Iskander.

If you want to move from plastic panels, one alternative is wood. However, switching to wood cuts both ways. It involves its own issues and interests.

Wood is easier on knives than another cutting board material, titanium, but there is a potential problem . Wooden boards have porous surfaces that absorb moisture and food debris, allowing bacteria to penetrate and stagnate, which can lead to infection. .

Ben Chapman, chair of the Department of Agricultural and Health Sciences at North Carolina State University – and his podcast It analyzes daily risks from germs, and believes the risks are low if panels are cleaned after each use. Any remaining bacteria “will likely die when they become trapped deep in the cracks,” he says.

Without this washing, you could become one of them 48 million cases of foodborne diseases annually in the United States. If you haven’t gotten sick yet, that doesn’t prove you’re invincible. “The risk of severe disease is a game of probabilities,” depending on the type and timing of exposure, Chapman says.

Read more: 10 ways to gently change the subject

Plastic outperforms wood in terms of comfort, especially when it comes to hygiene. The dishwasher will destroy wood boards, while plastic is dishwasher friendly. Wood should be washed by hand: first with soap to remove debris, followed by a food-safe disinfectant, Chapman recommends. He uses a plastic board for raw meat and wooden boards for everything else.