You Might Want To Stop Using Your Plastic Chopping Board

It's a common feature in pretty much every kitchen, but how safe is your chopping board?

Using shocking visuals, Maria Casamatta, founder of Oliver Care Co., which sells hormone-friendly products, has raised concerns about the potential for plastic chopping boards to leach plastic particles into our food, posing a potential threat to our hormonal and overall health.

"I wanted to provide a visual for people to understand the ways we're unknowingly impacting our hormonal health," Casamatta told Newsweek.

In a video on her TikTok page that has been viewed over 12 million times, Casamatta highlighted the potential issues with a plastic chopping board, revealing that it is causing us to unwittingly consume microplastics.

"I have been working to increase awareness about the presence of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in common consumer products," Casamatta said. "There is a concerning global decline in fertility and overall hormonal health, with EDCs playing a significant role in this issue."

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are chemicals that mimic, block or interfere with hormones in the body's endocrine system. They can be either natural or human-made and are found in everyday products including cosmetics, food packaging, toys, and pesticides.

EDCs enter the body through air, diet, skin, and water, and have been associated with an array of health issues including alterations to sperm quality and fertility.

A 2022 report by the U.S. Census Bureau and National Center for Health Statistics found that fertility rates in the U.S. declined gradually from 1990 to 2019. The reason for this decline is attributed to multiple factors, but a 2021 study found that EDCs do pose a risk to both male and female fertility, linking declines in human fertility to everyday chemicals.

"A major source of EDC exposure is from BPA and Phthalates, which are key components found in plastics—and chopping boards," said Casamatta. "I wanted to provide a visual for people to understand the ways we're unknowingly impacting our hormonal health."

There are positives to using a plastic cutting board. They are easily affordable and easy to clean, but not everyone thinks they are a good idea.

A 2023 study found that plastic chopping boards are a potentially significant source of microplastics in human food, estimating that a person could be exposed to between 7 and 50 grams of microplastics per year from a polyethylene chopping board and around 49 grams per year from a polypropylene chopping board.

Dick Vethaak is an ecotoxicologist at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He told Newsweek: "There is ample evidence that plastic particles pollute the air, drinking water, and food, leading to an ever-increasing risk of inhalation and ingestion on a global scale."

"The plastic chopping board is just one of the sources that can create micro and nanoplastics that can end up in our food," he said. "The public should be aware that replacing plastic cutting boards with wooden or natural stone is sensible for reducing overall microplastic exposure."

The long-term effects of consuming microplastics are not yet fully understood and are being studied, but Casamatta says everyone should ditch their plastic chopping board as soon as they can. She even likened the amount of plastic to the weight of two AA batteries, which weigh around 23 grams each.

She suggested switching to an alternative material, like wood, glass or even marble.

Casamatta's company creates personal care products free from EDCs.

"Oliver's mission is to ensure our personal care products aren't messing with our hormones," Casamatta said.

The viral video of the cutting board has prompted plenty of conversation online as TikTok users shared their reactions. "Glass cutting boards all the way," said Scarlett Keen, while Halo said: "I've always used a glass cutting board."

But others weren't convinced. One viewer wrote: "If I can't put it in the dishwasher I'm not using it," while another said: "Too bad I just use my counter."