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Being a human in 2024 means that toxins are constantly flowing through the body. Regardless of whether you choose to actively feed them fun things like tequila or candy, a lot of terrible, terrible, no good, very bad things are going to end up in your organs one way or another. Just like I was used to When I thought about the tiny, undetectable pieces of plastic floating around inside, I became aware of a new danger: black plastic, a material that is everywhere and, according to science, could slowly kill me.

In theory, I could have been freaking out about black plastic since 2017, when scientists first found evidence that many black plastic products were actually made from e-waste and the many associated toxins. But I was busy back then, and in the intervening years I didn't realize that pretty much everything I come into contact with is black and made of plastic—kitchen utensils, takeout sushi containers, hair accessories, office supplies, children's toys—could be hazardous to health. Luckily—or not—a new study published in September finally caught my attention, and now I have to live with the knowledge that there may have been toxic computer residue lurking beneath the modest pile of pickled ginger I devoured with the dragon bun last night .

This is how it happens. Experts say black plastic often ends up going straight to landfill without being recycled because the machines at recycling plants cannot detect the color black. (How embarrassing.) So when companies want to make new black plastic, instead of recycling other black plastic, they use discarded TV and computer cases that are treated with a variety of scary chemicals that absolutely shouldn't come into contact with our food. A 2018 study found that 40 percent of black plastic products contain lead, mercury and flame retardants – substances linked to thyroid disease, diabetes, cancer and brain development problems.

Depending on the product, these chemicals can enter your body in different ways. Per The AtlanticFlame retardants love nothing more than to leach from their polymers into the environment they're in, especially if that environment is hot—like cooking oil or a cozy fall stew. However, studies have found that dangerous flame retardants can also leach into small children's saliva, breast milk, and even house dust, which is basically just the air you breathe.

Given all of this, you might be thinking that some of these materials shouldn't actually fit on our laptops either? Many of the flame retardants apparently found on black plastic have have been banned in the US for years, but have found their way back into our $7 spatulas thanks to a largely unregulated global plastic recycling economy. Even more worrying: In the latest study, most products that were full of toxic contaminants weren't even labeled as recycled plastic, prompting one biochemist to call purchasing the things “a minefield.” Oh, good, I was looking for something new to worry about.