Fairly recently, concerns have been raised about black plastic containing higher levels of carcinogens and toxic chemicals compared to plastics of other colours. The reason black plastic is of particular concern is due to the types of materials commonly used to achieve its dark pigment. Health issues aside, the carbon pigments typically used to colour black plastic make it difficult to sort and recycle using conventional optical sorting systems, which rely on reflection of light. Carbon black is known to absorb UV and infrared radiation, which makes it hard for recycling facilities to identify the polymers present in a piece of black plastic. Given how little is known about the long-term health risks of exposure to black plastic, we should all be thinking about risk mitigation.

Source: New York Times May 15, 2024 00:04 UTC