Black Spatulas

Zoë Schlanger, reporting for The Atlantic, on how your black plastic spatula might be made of e-waste:

For the past several years, I’ve been telling my friends what I’m going to tell you: Throw out your black plastic spatula. In a world of plastic consumer goods, avoiding the material entirely requires the fervor of a religious conversion. But getting rid of black plastic kitchen utensils is a low-stakes move, and worth it. Cooking with any plastic is a dubious enterprise, because heat encourages potentially harmful plastic compounds to migrate out of the polymers and potentially into the food. But, as Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth recently told me, black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid.

I’m immune to social media “granola contains outer space debris” fear-mongering, but this is a well-researched article from a reputable source. So I’m going to replace our black plastic spatula with a silicone one.

Speaking of The Atlantic, and toxicity, this interview with editor Jeffrey Goldberg is a good overview of their decision to endorse Kamala Harris, a thoughtful review of the Washington Post’s decision not to, accompanied by a bits of interesting history from the magazine’s past.