If you're speaking of an electric water kettle, my advice is throw it out. At least where I live (Germany) you can buy good quality electric water kettles with seamless stainless steel container for well under €50,— (I bought mine a quarter of a century ago for €25,—), so there's very little incentive to save money. I once had an impossibly cheap water kettle with open heating coils. That thing not only smelled of plastics but the water was ruined, too. Add to that that open heating coils have a reputation of shedding nickel into the water. Just say no.
Does it count if the black plastic part is not in contact with the water/food? The inside of my kettle is stainless steel, but the lid is black plastic (not directly in contact with water)
In your case, the lid of the kettle is effectively in contact with the water. It sits exposed to hot steam, the steam condenses at the lid, and drops fall back into the water you're boiling.
Since the article repeatedly made a point to talk about cooking spatulas and hot oil, our only hope is that those flame retardants don't dissolve well in water - but dissolve very well in oil.
But if they do dissolve in water, it's safe to assume you're boiling them out of your kettle lid every time that thing runs.
what bothers me is the black plastic handles on pots and pans when cooking with gas. they get way to hot and produce a strong odor that makes me worry about what kind of gasses are released there that i am breathing in.
Go throw it away if you smell any odor. I'm glad even my cheap IKEA pots come with stainless steel handles. My even cheaper cast iron pans have, well, cast iron handles.
