Are silicone utensils safe?
The utensils that you stir or otherwise manipulate your food with while cooking are important to consider. Nonstick coatings applied to utensils such as spatulas and spoons can leach out toxins, but if they are used properly and not overheated, this should not occur.
As mentioned earlier, metal utensils can cause a scratching and scraping of surfaces, resulting in the flaking off of metals and/or coatings into your food. Wood and silicone products are nonabrasive and free from potentially toxic coatings. Although some people avoid using wooden spoons because they can become scratched and thus a potential breeding grounds for bacteria, if cleaned properly after each use they should last a very long time. We have used wooden spoons in our home for decades and have never had an issue with bacterial contamination.
Silicone is another product that seems to be a good choice for cooking utensils. Silicone is a synthetic polymer, an elastomer, manufactured by adding carbon and/or oxygen to the element silicon. Silicone can be formulated into a solid, liquid, or gel and has been used in many industries. In the medical industry, silicone has been used in implantable medical devices such as are utilized with joint replacements and breast implants and for injectable preparations. There have been many scientific papers written about potential negative outcomes in certain populations from the medical use of silicone, but to date, there are no known health hazards associated with the use of silicone cookware. Products manufactured using silicone elastomers from Dow Corning can be placed in the freezer and, according to Dow Corning, are stable and safe up to over 500 degrees Fahrenheit. I prefer wood, but in terms of resolving are silicone utensils safe, I do find them to be very useful.