Tea at Trianon: Your Black Plastic Cooking Utensils

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, October 20, 2024

Your Black Plastic Cooking Utensils

From Eating Well:

Like anything else, there are many kinds of fire retardants. Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are one of the more concerning types. This is because they are considered toxic and are known to accumulate in the body’s tissues. BFRs have been linked to cancer, hormone disruptions, and nerve, reproductive and developmental toxicity.1 BFRs are often found in electrical and electronic devices’ plastic housing cases and printed circuit boards.

There are also different types of BFRs, two of which have been banned in the U.S. and European Union since 2007 and 2006, respectively.1 These include decabromodiphenyl ether (deca-BDE) and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). A host of other flame retardants replaced the two banned BFRs and are currently considered safer, including a type of flame retardant called organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs). While OPFRs are considered safer than BFRs, there is some question regarding the aquatic toxicity of OPFRs—meaning, how they affect organisms, like fish, that live in water. (Read more.)