Non-Toxic Toasters, Chemicals of Concern to Avoid

None of the pop-up toasters I looked at had a non-stick coating of any kind.

This is in contrast to toaster ovens, which I review here.

I am also not concerned personally with what kind of metal is touching the bread, sometimes a small part of the internal structure (like the support bar) is aluminum.

Dr. Mudgal, Toxicologist, says “in general, the metal parts of a pop-up toaster that come into contact with bread are not a significant concern for metal leaching. Most toasters are designed with safe, stable materials like stainless steel or aluminum, which have minimal risk of transferring metals into food during normal use. However, if the toaster is damaged, continuously overheated, or made with substandard materials, there could be a small risk of leaching.”

There are two things I would look at when looking for a non-toxic toaster:

• Absence of recycled plastic (or avoidance of all black plastic if the company cannot make a clear statement that they don’t use recycled plastic) due to contaminants of concern in recycled plastic.
• Absence of a Prop 65 Warning

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Toasters With No Prop 65 Warning

The following models have no Prop 65 warning and have very minimal or no black plastic:

• Keenstone 2 Slice Stainless Steel Toaster Retro (painted steel, NO black plastic visible, extremely minimal plastic overall, no Prop 65 warning).
• Hamilton Beach 1560-Watt 4-Slice Classic Stainless Steel Toaster (stainless steel with some black plastic, no Prop warning on Amazon)
• Hamilton Beach 850-Watt 2-Slice stainless steel toaster (stainless steel with very minimal black plastic, no Prop warning on Amazon)
• HADEN Dorset 900-Watt 2-Slice Wide Slot Ivory Retro Toaster with Removable Crumb Tray and Adjustable Settings. (Painted metal, NO visible black plastic. No visible plastic at all except the feet may be plastic or rubber. No prop warning on Amazon).
• Breville the ‘A Bit More’ Toaster 2-Slice (stainless steel with minimal black plastic. No Prop 65 warning).

Toasters with a Prop 65 warning

• KitchenAid 4-Slice Toaster with Manual High-Lift Lever – KMT4115, Contour Silver (stainless steel with very minimal black plastic). (Now has a prop warning on Amazon)
• Cuisinart Classic Series 2-Slice Stainless Steel Wide Slot Toaster (stainless steel with very minimal black plastic). (Now has a prop warning on Amazon)
• Cuisinart Touch to Toast 4-Slice Stainless Steel Wide Slot Toaster with Crumb Tray (stainless steel with very minimal black plastic). (Now has a prop warning on Amazon)
• KitchenAid KMT2115ER Toaster with Manual High-Lift Lever, Empire Red, 2 Slice (stainless steel with very minimal black plastic). (Now has a prop warning on Amazon)
• GE 4-Slice Stainless Steel Wide Slot Toaster with 7 Shade Settings
• GE 2 Slice Stainless Steel Toaster, Extra Wide Slots (stainless steel, no black plastic in parts you touch).
• Black and Decker Rapid Toast 2-Slice Stainless Steel Wide Slot Toaster
• KALORIK 1400-Watt 2-Slice Stainless Steel Wide Slot Rapid Toaster
• And very likely other models by those same brands.

This information is based on what websites are listing in Winter 2024/2025. You also need to check the box of the toaster to see if it contains a Prop 65 warning.

Let’s Review The Potential Chemicals of Concern in Toasters

Recycled Plastic Concerns

Black Plastic is Often 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, the danger of other types of black plastic products requires “more evidence to bridge the gap between recycled chemical presence and human health.”

Some toasters have black plastic on the outside and inside, and this could be recycled plastic. The food contact surfaces are not black plastic, however, but metal.

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”.

Prop 65 Warning Concerns

Proposition 65 is a warning label for Californians about significant exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. 

Any product that is sold in California will have this label even at retailers outside of California. 

The list contains naturally occurring and synthetic chemicals. It is updated yearly and there are currently 900 chemicals on the list in 2024. 

I did find a number of toasters without the Prop 65 warning, therefore it could be used as a way to differentiate between models with fewer concerning chemicals.

Exposure Limit?

Technically this label is used for “significant exposures” and the chemicals need not be listed if “the exposure is low enough to pose no significant risk of cancer or is significantly below levels observed to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.” 

However, in reality, the exposure risk is not usually calculated and you will still see the label if the product contains only trace levels of the Prop 65 chemicals or even when the chemicals are enclosed within the product and there is no reasonable way to gain exposure to them. 

Are Companies Adding This to Everything?

It does seem like there are companies that add this to all their products even though they might not contain a chemical on the list, if the exposure is extremely minimal, or exposure is not expected with regular use. 

There is no penalty for providing an unnecessary warning.

Which Prop 65 Chemicals Can Be Found in Appliances:

1. Phthalates may be present in plastic components of appliances (specifically they are usually added to flexible vinyl) according to the Prop 65 website. Electrical wiring is often coated in vinyl, and there may be other PVC parts in appliances. Black plastic that is recycled can also contain phthalates as a contamination.

2. BPA could be found in plastic (PVC or polycarbonate) components of a toaster.

3. Styrene is also something I have seen a toaster company disclose. This could be a component of SBR rubber, some plastics when heated up, or electrical parts and cords (source).

4. Flame retardants may be present in plastic components of appliances according to the Prop 65 website. Electrical wiring and cords also usually contain flame retardants. 

5. Antimony: Tamara Rubin has found that most appliance electrical cords will test positive for Antimony (as a component of added flame retardants). 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). Antimony can also be found in recycled plastic.

6. Arsenic: Tamara says she often finds traces of 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’s still a Prop 65 Chemical. 

7. Lead: is almost always a component of brass parts, and it can be found in plastic (both recycled and new), solder, electrical cords, nuts, painted parts, and more in appliances. 

8. Nickel: is part of stainless steel. 

9. Some PFAS: three PFAS were added to Prop 65: PFOA, PFOS, and PFNA. PFOS and PFOA had been mostly phased out or banned in the United States by the time they were listed. PTFE (Teflon) is not on the list, but is often contaminated with PFOA (source).

10. Other Proposition 65 chemicals may also be present in enclosed components of the appliance (such as printed circuit boards). During normal use, consumer exposure to these chemicals is expected to be negligible according to the Prop 65 website.

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.