Plastic Cutting Boards

Cutting on soft plastic boards.

50Moderate burden · out of 100

Cleaner swapWood or bamboo boards

How this score is built

100Start
86.2Chemical hazard 3 × 4.6−13.8
65.8Everyday exposure 6 × 3.4−20.4
50Persistence 6 × 2.6−15.6, then rounded to 50
ModerateThe band50 sits in 40–59.

What each input rests on

The three ratings behind the score, and the studies each rests on
Input	Rating	Evidence
Chemical hazard	3/10	unsourced input
Everyday exposure	6/10	Chopping on polypropylene and polyethylene boards released microplastics, mostly under 100 µm; the authors estimated a per-person annual exposure of 7.4-50.7 g from a polyethylene board and 49.5 g from a polypropylene board. Cutting Boards: An Overlooked Source of Microplastics in Human Food? · Environ Sci Technol 2023 DOI 10.1021/acs.est.3c00924 · PMID 37220346 · Abstract · read 2026-10-26
Persistence	6/10	unsourced input

Ratings are editorial. A study listed here supports the rating; it did not compute it. How the index is built

What this means for you

It scores as it does mainly because of how much everyday contact it involves. Knife scoring sheds microplastic particles directly into your food. Wood is naturally antimicrobial and doesn't shed.

Evidence strength: moderate

See where your whole exposure load is highest — free Exposure Score →

This entry and the whole Index, on your phone.