FLAME RETARDANTS

 We send out this short piece on flame retardants to explain why they are dangerous,  where they are in our environment, and why Environment and Human Health, Inc. is working on a project to change the policy to better protect the public's health from exposures to them. "In 1977, The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the ban of children's pajamas containing the flame-retardant commonly known as Tris because it was carcinogenic.  The pajama use of Tris was banned - but unbelievably, it is still being used today in baby products  such as nursing pillows, car-seats, crib mattresses, high-chairs, etc." Flame retardants have become ubiquitous in our environment.

Nancy Alderman, President, Environment and Human Health, Inc. http://www.ehhi.org http://ehhijournal.org  
1191 Ridge Road, North Haven, CT  06473  (phone) 203-248-6582  

Recent research suggests that chemicals used as flame-retardants are rapidly building up in the bodies of people and wildlife around the world. The concentrations of these chemicals in tissues appear to be approaching levels in American women that could harm the developing nervous systems of fetuses, infants and children.

In the United States there has been no action to regulate flame-retardants in a way that would protect human health, and instead their use continues to rise. About half of the 135 million pounds of flame-retardants used worldwide in 2001 were applied to products in North America.

Scientists who specialize in human tissue body burdens say that they haven't seen a chemical build up in human bodies and the environment as quickly as that of some flame-retardants in almost half a century. The flame-retardants are as potent and long lasting as PCB's and DDT- chemicals that began to accumulate in the environment and human tissues in the 1950's and were banned in the 1970's.  Even if many flame-retardants were banned today, they would endure in the environment for decades.

 In 1977, The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the ban of children's clothing containing the flame-retardant commonly known as Tris because it was carcinogenic.  The pajama use of Tris was banned - but unbelievably, it is still being used today in baby products that are made with polyurethane foam - such as nursing pillows, car-seats, crib mattresses, high-chairs, etc. To be exposing our smallest children is truly outrageous..

Animal studies have shown that flame-retardants affect thyroid hormone functions and can impair the developing central nervous system and brain. In 1999, Swedish researchers discovered much greater amounts in human breast milk than had been detected twenty-five years earlier. Subsequent studies have found an even sharper rise in U.S. women, leading some researchers to conclude that flame retardants levels in North Americans are 10 to 20 times higher than in Europeans and are doubling at a rate of every four to six years. This has raised concern among many scientists and environmental health advocates.

Flame-retardants can cross the placenta, exposing the fetus. Infants are also exposed to flame-retardants through breast milk. Children take in flame-retardants from many sources and these will persist in their bodies though adulthood.

Researchers say the effects on children are likely to be subtle - not mental retardation or disability, but measurable changes in children's intelligence, memory hyperactivity and hearing. "We're concerned about learning and memory and some behavioral effects and hearing loss," Birnbaum said.

Dr. Linda Birnbaum, the EPA's director of toxicology, said, "there is no question that the chemicals are altering thyroid hormones. Altering thyroid hormones during fetal development can affect how the brain functions." 

What disturbs scientists the most are that some flame-retardants have striking similarities to PCB's which were widely used as insulating fluids in electrical transformers until they were banned in the 1970's because they were collecting in the tissues of people and wildlife.

Toxic Chemicals Found in Household Dust

Until now, having a little dust in the house was a harmless cue to clean.  But recent studies show that dust may be more ominous — it can contain toxic chemicals that may have a negative impact on your health.  

Cats and Dogs, Sentinels in a Silent Spring | Poisoned Pets.
www.poisonedpets.com/cats-and-dogs-sentinels-in-the-silent-s...

This year marks the 50 year anniversary for Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring. The eponymous book that warned of the dangers of pesticides, a book many say prompted the environmental movement, led to the banning of the pesticide DDT a decade later.

What many people don’t realise is that today, 50 years after Silent Spring was published, we are exposed to more toxic chemicals than ever before, an estimated 8,000-12,000 chemicals continue to be introduced annually, with no requirement that human toxicity or exposure data be provided before the chemical is used.

“Like the constant dripping of water that in turn wears away the hardest stone,” she wrote in her 1962 book, “this birth-to-death contact with dangerous chemicals may in the end prove disastrous.”

Read article: http://www.poisonedpets.com/cats-and-dogs-sentinels-in-the-silent-spring/

Advocates Continue Battle Against Flame-Retardant Chemicals

After years of failed attempts to regulate flame-retardant chemicals linked to mounting evidence of harm, state legislators and consumer advocates are gearing up to take another look at the risks and benefits. The chemicals have been measured at high levels in some Californians’ bloodstreams and research links some of the firefighting compounds to lower IQ scores among children. While state Sen. Mark Leno, (D-San Francisco), has carried bills that would limit the chemicals’ use in consumer products since 2007, heavily funded chemical companies repeatedly have lobbied against them. Now, a four-part investigation by the Chicago Tribune has exposed disingenuous testimony delivered to California lawmakers and found that the chemicals cause more harm than good.

California Watch [Author Christina Jewett]

Chicago Tribune Investigation