Nowadays, there are so many different kitchen tools and types of cookware designed to make cooking easier and more efficient. However, scientists are discovering that even if they make things easier, certain kitchen staples carry a risk of toxicity. In fact, one study found that silicone cookware, such as baking sheets, pans, spoons, and spatulas, may be transferring potentially toxic chemicals into your food and perhaps even into the air while you use them. Here, toxicologists and food safety experts break down the findings, explaining whether you need to act and sharing the potentially safer options worth considering.
In the study, which was published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, researchers analyzed 25 bakeware products for the presence of siloxane (the chemical compound that gives silicone its structure), as well as how much siloxane ended up in a sand and oil compound designed to mimic food after baking.
Meet the experts: Jamie Alan, Ph.D., is an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University; Kelly Johnson-Arbor, M.D., is a toxicologist at MedStar Health; Darin Detwiler, LP.D., is a professor at Northeastern University and author of the book Food Safety: Past, Present, and Predictions.
The researchers measured that baking mixture along with airborne emissions during 60-minute baking sessions at 350°F, a common cooking temperature for baked goods. Things got a little technical from there, but the researchers discovered that there was an increase in siloxanes in the “food” after baking. Concentrations of siloxanes in the air jumped up during baking and then fell quickly when the cooking was done.
Worth noting: The researchers discovered that there was a drop in how much siloxanes wound up in the food and the air the more the bakeware was used in cooking. Overall, “these findings highlight silicone bakeware as a source of cyclic siloxane exposure for the general population,” the researchers wrote in the conclusion.
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