Journal de-listed after FR polemic

Chemosphere removed from science list after media-grabbing article wrongly calculated flame retardant “contamination”. The journal Chemosphere (Elsevier) published September 2024 an article by authors from the NGO Toxic Free Future and the Amsterdam Free University showing analysis of flame retardants in 203 black plastic consumer items (food and kitchenware, hair utensils, toys), finding detectable levels of around ten FRs in a majority of items, including of now-restricted brominated FRs. The presence of these legacy brominated FRs is presumed to be via recycled plastics. The authors then calculated that users would have an FR intake higher than estimated intakes from dust or diet (which are of the order of ng/kg body weight/day = 1 per trillion) and higher than the “reference dose” for the brominated flame retardant BDE-209 (Deca-BDE). This led to significant media coverage. However, there was a 10x calculation error (in the “reference dose” per body weight), and a correction is now published stating that the corrected estimated exposure is in fact an order of magnitude lower than this “reference dose”. This has led to de-listing of Chemosphere on Clarivate’s Web-of-Science platform, a key index for scientific journals.

“From e-waste to living space: Flame retardants contaminating household items add to concern about plastic recycling”, M. Liu et al., Chemosphere 365 (2024) 143319 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143319

Corrigendum, Chemosphere 370 (2025) 143903 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143903

“Journal that published faulty black plastic study removed from science index”, Retraction Watch https://arstechnica.com/health/2024/12/journal-that-published-faulty-black-plastic-study-removed-from-science-index/