Summary:
- Recycled plastic can be used in air fryers, and can come from recycled electronic waste which can contain substances of concern, including Antimony, toxic flame retardants, PFAS, phthalates, bisphenols, Cadmium, Chromium, Mercury and Lead.
- Antimony is also common is all appliance cords, and when added is present in fairly high amounts.
- Metals, except for Mercury, are generally well bound to plastic but the other contaminants from recycled plastic are not.
- I review a few air fryer brands that have little black plastic or are free of all recycled plastic and are free of PFAS in the food contact areas.
This article contains affiliate links, upon purchase I earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Antimony in Black Plastic
Antimony can be found in black plastic, either as a part of added flame retardants (reviewed in the next section) or as a contaminant in recycled plastic.
Antimony Levels
For example, with a high-end XRF analyzer, Tamara found 128 ppm (parts per million) Antimony in a black plastic chair (source).
This level of antimony is not due to the deliberate addition of antimony-based flame retardants.
Instead, it is likely a contaminant from other sources, such as recycled materials used in the chair’s manufacturing, says Dr Mudgal, Toxicologist.
Black Plastic Contaminated by Recycled E-Waste
One 2018 study found that black plastic often contains recycled electronic waste (e-waste).
They said: “Inefficiently sorted [electronic waste] plastic has the potential to introduce restricted and hazardous substances into the recyclate, including brominated flame retardants (BFRs), Sb (Antimony), a flame retardant synergist, and the heavy metals, Cd (Cadmium), Cr (Chromium), Hg (Mercury) and Pb (Lead).”
In a 2023 study from the UK, they also found recycled e-waste in new black plastic items. “Black plastic products appear to be of particular risk for this contamination”, they said.
They found that recycled plastic items “may contain restricted flame retardants and heavy metals often used in association with flame retardants and in electronic products, such as antimony and lead”.
A small number of products, they continued, had priority chemicals that exceeded regulatory limits – phthalates, flame retardants, and heavy metals are the main additives of concern.
Risk Review
However, the risk of using recycled black plastic with these contaminants is not obvious, they say in the 2023 literature review.
“Only a small number of studies made an explicit connection between chemical presence and human health risks. The results were inconclusive: most products had concentrations below concentration limits, but a non-negligible number of products substantially exceeded those concentration limits.”
While the study suggests that there could be a danger from these contaminants, especially in toys used for kids that could be put in their mouth”.
Some air fryers have black plastic on the outside and inside.
The food contact surfaces are not black plastic (or have a coating over the plastic).
The literature review gives an overview of the real risk of the chemical of concern in these recycled plastics (this comes from a Danish study in 2014):
Risk Review by Chemical:
- Heavy Metals: Typically strongly bound, therefore not expected to migrate. As a result, the “exposure to consumers must therefore be considered low”. Mercury is an exception: not chemically bound, will migrate and evaporate, leading to some exposure risk. This risk is judged to be small.
- Perfluorinated chemicals (PFAS): These substances are not chemically bound, meaning there is a risk of migration.
- Flame retardants: Migration risk depends on the substance. Reactive flame retardants are chemically bound, and are considered of less risk. Additive flame retardants (such as most Brominated flame retardants) are not chemically bound and will migrate easily, “and may thus result in significant exposure of consumers”.
- Phthalates: Generally, all plasticizers “must be anticipated to migrate and the use in plastics should thus be considered a source of exposure to consumers”.
- Bisphenols: Based on its physical properties, it should be regarded as a semivolatile compound, able to migrate out of plastics. With time, “the major part of the substance will probably be released by leaching to the surface followed by evaporation or removal by washing”.
Antimony in Appliance Cords
Antimony is common in the cords of appliances.
This is not specific to air fryers, and it is likely you have an appliance cord with antimony in the home already.
Tamara Rubin has found that most appliance electrical cords will test positive by XRF testing for Antimony. This is a component of the added flame-retardant Antimony Trioxide.
When she tests electrical cords of appliances, she normally finds the level in the range of 5,000 to 15,000 parts per million (ppm). This is high.
Exposure
Some appliance companies recommend that you wash your hands after touching the cord.
However, the Danish study concluded that “the substance [Antimony Trioxide} is an inorganic compound and therefore solid bound and will not migrate. Judged to be only liberated by tear and wear.” (source)
Note: Antimony can also be found in solder used on the interior parts.
Other Potential Toxicants in Air Fryers
PFAS
Fluorinated compounds are commonly found in the non-stick coatings in air fryers.
They may not be a risk unless overheated or damaged but many people, including myself, prefer to avoid this class of “forever chemicals”.
The risk review above considers PFAS to carry a risk of migration.
If you do use an air fryer with a PFAS non-stick coating, it is advised that you avoid putting trays in the dishwasher.
Instead, hand wash all non-stick components with a soft sponge, avoiding the harsh scrubber side of any sponge which could damage the coating.
Using metallic utensils can also damage the coating.
May be present in plastic components of appliances (specifically in flexible vinyl) according to the Prop 65 website.
Electrical wiring is often coated in vinyl, and there may be other PVC tubes or hoses. The electrical cord often contains phthalates.
Many phthalates are now a Prop 65 chemical, and so we have some air fryer companies disclosing this.
Lead
Is almost always a component of brass parts, and it can be found in plastic, solder, electrical cords, nuts, painted parts, and more in appliances.
Usually, this is found in internal parts (but not always).
Arsenic
Tamara says she often finds trace Arsenic in black plastic handles of kitchen tools and appliances.
She believes it is likely a contaminant of the black pigmentation.
In one test, she found extremely low levels of Arsenic in the black plastic handle of a kettle (3 +/- 1 ppm). This is safe, by any standard, she explains, though it is a Prop 65 Chemical.
Air Fryer Brands: Free of Recycled Plastic & PFAS
Brands that meet my criteria:
- 1. Green Pan Bistro Air Fryer Oven – Their non-stick coating is not nano or PFAS-based but is silica/ceramic (see the composition here).
- They use a stainless steel rack, baking pan, air fry basket, and crumb tray coated with a non-PFAS non-stick coating (except for the crumb tray which is not coated).
- No recycled plastic is used on the exterior, they said in an email (though the exterior is mostly stainless steel anyway).
- 2. HYSapientia Air Fryer Convection Oven has the following functions: air fry, grill/broil, bake, dehydrate, thaw, rotisserie, toast, fish, pizza, and steak.
- The HYSapientia air fryer oven is made of stainless steel on the outside and galvanized steel on the inside.
- All the accessories that are in direct contact with the food, such as grill racks, frying baskets, and grill racks for chicken are stainless steel. There is very little visible plastic, only the feet and the inside of the handle.
- Though they did not respond to the question about recycled plastic use.
- 3. Oster 10 Function Air Fryer Oven air fryer, convection oven, broiler, toaster oven, dehydrator, and more.
- A rep for the company says its interior design is made up of galvanized steel or aluminized steel which makes it easy to clean (this might be why the Amazon listing says non-stick).
- The baking pan, broiling pan, and tray are made of aluminum without a non-stick coating. You may choose to replace these aluminum pans/trays with a stainless steel option (or this one which is 12 x 10) since aluminum can leach into certain foods with enough contact time.
- The air fryer basket and wire rack are chrome-plated steel which is safe. The only visible plastic parts are the feet so I wouldn’t worry about recycled plastic here.
- 4. Fritaire Glass Bowl Air Fryer – The rotisserie skewer is made of chrome-plated steel (safe), they use a stainless steel rack, and a french fries (rotisserie) tumbler (basket) and airstand are made of stainless steel.
- They claim to be phthalate-free and BPA-free.
- They don’t use any PFAS.
- Christine Ibo, Operations and Customer Service Manager said “we do not use recycled materials in the manufacturing of Fritaire, especially on our plastic components.”
- 5. GreenLife Compact Air Fryer – this is the one I want to get. I use their pans so I am comfortable with their non-PFAS, lead-free, cadmium-free ceramic coating (independently verified to be free of toxic metals).
- PFAS-free
- Minimal black plastic
Next best options:
- 1. The Hamilton Beach Toaster Oven Air Fryer Combo with Large Capacity has bake, toast, broil, and air fry functions.
- The interior cavity is made of galvanized steel. The oven rack is made of chrome-plated steel. The mesh basket is made of chrome-plated steel. The baking pan is made of aluminized steel.
- If you want to replace the baking pan with an all stainless steel option, this one comes in various sizes. This appliance does not feature any non-stick coatings.
- They would not answer the questions about whether it contains recycled plastic, as they said that is “proprietary”.
- 2. Our Place Wonder Oven – The food contact surface coating on the baking tray is their ceramic coating, the air fry basket and wire rack are chromed steel (safe), and the crumb tray is stainless steel.
- They said “While there are nano-sized raw materials in the liquid state of all sol-gel ceramic coatings for our nonstick ceramic, once they are cured and hardened, these particles cannot break free. There is no possibility for nanoparticles to leach into food while cooking.”
- I guess that is assuming the coating is not damaged nor does it leach. Using nano-metals in the coating does worry me personally.
- They did not respond to whether they use recycled plastic parts on the exterior; however, there are only very small plastic parts on the exterior.
Options that don’t meet my criteria at the time of first publication:
- Yedi Evolution Air Fryer – has a ceramic-coated basket, ceramic-coated cooking basket divider, ceramic-coated pizza pan, multi-purpose rack with 3 stainless steel skewers, 2 stainless steel dehydrator racks, and a silicone cupcake/egg bite pan. They say the ceramic coating is free of PFOA (which is banned) and PTFE/Teflon. After multiple emails, they said it is not free of all PFAS (specifically, they said in response to my question about if it’s free of all PFAS, “And no, we can assure only PFOA and PTFE.”
- Ninja Air Fryers – use ceramic-coated parts that are only PFOA and PTFE-free; they do not say they are free of all PFAS. They do also carry a Prop 65 warning and are heavy on the black plastic (though it’s not confirmed that this is recycled plastic).
- Gourmia Air Fryer – Basket Air fryers are BPA, PFAS and LEAD Free. It is aluminum covered with a food-grade silicone non-stick coating. I am unsure if this has a silicone rubber lining (which I have never seen in an air fryer) or if this is a ceramic (sol-gel) coating, which has silicon inputs but the final product is not silicone.
Corinne Segura is an InterNACHI-certified Healthy Homes Inspector with certifications in Building Biology, Healthier Materials and Sustainable Buildings, and more. She has 10 years of experience helping others create healthy homes. You can book a consult here.
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Tim
What is your opinion on the Ninja Crispi (not pro) if used with a stainless steel grill rack instead of the included non-stick one? There does not seem to be much black plastic on it but there is a fair bit of grey plastics so I am not sure if this is also an issue or not.
Should we be avoiding black plastics altogether or just on the insides if the air fryers
J Saunders
What is your opinion on the Cosori Turboblaze
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
it’s all black plastic so unless they are very clear that they dont use recycled plastic it would not meet my requirements for this article
Alex
Hi, thanks for the elaborate article. Do you checked your options regarding antimony levels as well?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
Yes if you read through the introduction it will come together
Gina
I’ve been using a glass basket air fryer with nothing that is ‘non-stick’, and it doesn’t go beyond 200°C. There are a few on the market. I would think that they are safer?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
Yes, I have a glass bowl one on the list as well
Enoch Quon
What about Brevilles Joule Air Fryer?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
I have only reviewed the brands in the post but you can use the same criteria to review any brand.
Bernie
Thank you for your article, very interesting. I came across it because I’ve been wondering about my Ninja AF451EU Airfryer (I live in France), and I haven’t been able to find detailed information about the composition of the external plastics, and especially the internal parts of the baskets. I’m also curious about whether the brand uses antimony…
The only data I was able to find is this one:
https://res.cloudinary.com/sharkninja-na/image/upload/v1717506773/SharkUS/QR%20Codes/PFAS_Data_list_053024_1.pdf
JR
I recently purchased the Fritaire air fryer, partially because of this article, and was really disappointed to find black plastic on the inside of the air fryer. The place where the rotisserie attaches to the bowl, the edge of lid and the handles all are made of black plastic, and there is a prop 65 warning sticker on the handle.
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
thanks for sharing. this one is pretty plastic heavy, but I was able to speak to someone higher up that was quite clear they don’t use recycled plastic. So as long as that is true, it’s better than other options by my criteria. I wasn’t ranking them based on prop 65 because all appliances have prop 65 chemicals. though you certainly could add that as a personal criteria.
Sharon Eads
I don’t think microplastics have been addressed. If any plastic is exposed to heat and food, does it cause the food to be contaminated with microplastics? Thanks!
Dr smile
Which types of air fryer this article done ??
And what about Delongi air fryer???
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
I didn’t quite understand the first question. As for Delongi I have not done a full review of them. They look like they have a non-stick basket, which definitely looks like it could be PFAS-based. Also some models have a lot of black plastic so you may want to ask if it is recycled.
laurie andersen
That’s probably why I’ve returned 5 small room heaters bacause of the toxic smell that won’t go away. I really appreciate this article!
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
see the article on space heaters
Jennifer
What about the Cuisinart TOA-70 air fryer toaster oven with grill ?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
The air fryer basket is non-stick so may contain PFAS, the baking pan also looks like either aluminum or non-stick. The interior also looks like it might be non-stick. You’d have to ask them about these areas. There isn’t much black plastic but the handle looks like it’s half black plastic.
Katherine
What about the Pampered Chef Air Fryer?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
does it have PFAS, does it have recycled black plastic?
Darlene Jordan
what about the safety of Emeril Lagasse Airfryer 360?
Thank you kindly.
Darlene
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
The brand uses PFAS last I checked but you can ask them about that as well as recycled plastic
LJ
Great article, thank you! Some things that stood out were why you believe plated chrome is safe?I’ve always understood that chromium, which is toxic, can leach into food. There’s less chrome in stainless steel so I see where that is likely safe(r), but isn’t it best to avoid food contact with chrome plating? You said it was safe.
The other is, are you saying that air fryer cords are more toxic than any other appliance cord? If they’re all pretty much the same then if we avoid touching the cord on a regular basis (like my toaster, I can’t remember the last time I touched its cord) then we’re not in danger of antimony exposure… that the danger is only from touching the cord? I. E. these cords don’t off-gas?
I’ve read that ovens, or any hot appliance, also contain flame retardant materials of some sort in-between the inner and outer housing. Is there any danger of off-gassing any chemicals each time an air fryer or hot appliance is heated up?
Lastly, kitchens can contain a lot of black plastics throughout, such as the outside of major appliances, like face plates on dishwashers, ovens and refrigerators – or black plastic refrigerator or oven door handles, etc. Are all of these potentially toxic too? ♀️
Thanks again, I’ll be sharing your article.
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
Yes chrome is safe and yes it’s also in stainless steel which most of us use to cook liquids, often acid like tomato sauce for much longer periods of time. In a toaster often chrome is for racks so you can’t really get anything liquidy on there which is what is needed to cause it to leach. Plus the time is less.
Antimony in cords is common and not exclusive to air fryers and no metal isn’t in gas form. Leaching is talked about in the article.
I don’t have info on if they contain insulation but yes it’s possible and yes that could contain flame retardants. Flame retardants are used in all electronics and appliances.
Recycled black plastic is always a potential problem.
Lacie
Curious about the Cuisinart Stainless Steel Model? I have the TOA-70 model. I use it multiple times per day… and just found out I have very high levels of lead in my body.
JJ
What about the SP line of Ninja air fryers I think they are stainless outside, Sheet pan stainless-steel coating, Air Fry Basket has chrome plated steel., bake tray has enamel coating aluminum AL 3003. Not sure how concering that is? Or what else I should ask about?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
And ask specifically about PFAS in enamel coatings and recycled plastic if concerned about that (it doesn’t have much plastic).
Donna Collins
Do you know if the Breville Joue Oven Air Fryer Pro is toxic or not?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
you’d have to ask them what the food contact surfaces are made of. And ask specifically about PFAS and recycled plastic.
Lee Kidney
So do you use an air fryer / appliances and which ones?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
I don’t use an air fryer, I’m not a big cook. But I just organised them into best, next best and options I wouldn’t use so it’s more clear.
Sarabeth
Hi,
Do you have any information on the Instantpot Instant Vortex (6 qt)? I can’t find any information on if this air fryer is safe to use.
Thank you!
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
They use PFAS as the non-stick surface of the food contact areas. They are also heavy on the black plastic.
Em
Is there antimony inside air fryers that look like toaster ovens or is the antimony only in the plastic style air fryers? I read a comment on a blog that days their kid was tested to be very high with antimony poisoning likely from an air fryer they used daily. They did not specify the type.. I need to replace my toaster oven and on mamavation they listed a breville air fryer pro oven that I am interested in as they also sell stainless steel baskets that can be used for dehydrating (i want to dehydrate my own fruit).
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
the article explains where antimony can be found in air fryers of both types
candice
I love how you breakdown all the details about the toxic materials in an air fryer. Based on your list which one would you personally use on a day to day basis? Thank you this is helpful!
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
I wouldnt use anything with PFAS or nano metals I would repalce the aluminum trays, and minimal black plastic or a company that says they dont use recycled plastic is ideal.
Teri Peeler
How can we get a list of airfryers that use antimony in their machines?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
we generally cannot. They don’t always expose if it has antimony in the cord and they don’t always disclose whether it has recycled plastic. If it does have recycled plastic it’s also not a guarantee it has antimony.
Maria Charles
do you know if the Emerald air fryer contains any antimony?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
i would just assume that they all do in the cord, but antimony is not one of the real risks due to it being well bonded to the plastic
Kim
I have a Gourmia Stainless Steel double door Air Fryer. looking everything up and can’t find out if the Chord is toxic to my family or if there’s anything else toxic in it.
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
I would expect flame retardants in the cords of all brands
Valerie
I just called Gourmia and asked if any of their air fryers or cords contain antimony AND they instantly said, “No.”
Hmm…honestly, I we have 2 Gourmia air fryers…I am still not convinced that they are safe. Anyone else have more information?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
they could potentially be using a different flame retardant