The Skinny on Flame Retardants (or PCBEs) --

The chemicals in flame retardants have been a nagging voice in the back of my head for quite some time. I know they are bad. I know they are in my kids' sleepers. In my sofa, and in our mattresses. This is one area where I saw no immediate helpful solutions. It was high time to learn more.

Issue Summary: The deal is that our government requires that children's sleepwear and mattresses meet certain standards for flame resistance. Most are treated with a flame retardant that contains polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PCBEs. These chemicals have been causing increased concern because of their many associated health risks. Apparently, PCBEs have increasingly been linked to numerous health problems, such as thyroid hormone imbalance, and lower IQ and developmental delays. They also have been linked to cancer in animal studies.

Women and their babies in the U.S. are of particular concern. Nursing moms have 10 to 20 times the rates of PCBEs in their breast milk than women in Europe. (This article is in no way suggests that mothers to stop breastfeeding because of this--). And of course little developing bodies are the most vulnerable, since they are exposed to more of a chemical cocktail from their daily interactions with many items around the home, and since they eat and drink more in proportion with their bodies.

During my research I encountered several household items that likely have PBDEs in them, such as carpet pads, synthetic clothing, televisions, computer casings, cells phones (that's nice because we hold them so close to our faces!). One article in Science News cited millions of exposures everyday through multiple sources, including food. Many states are looking at banning the use of these chemicals in products. There is currently a bill in the Vermont Senate looking at flame retardants (but sadly I don't anticipate action on it this year) and it looks like several other states are considering banned PBDEs or have done so already. The European Union, in another stroke of brilliance, banned PBDEs outright, as has Washington State.


Sources: CALPRIG, CHEC, Environmental Working Group, Science News


So how do you limit your family's exposure to PBDEs? Read this Enviroblog article for ways to do this. This article also has a few more tips.

Here is the EPA's information page on PBDEs and their plans (many voluntary-- sure to work,huh?) to reduce its use in products.

And lastly I found this excellent resource for tired, hurried parents summarizing this issue and what to do about it from the Healthy Children Project.

This is another issue we cannot shop or study our way out of. There are alternative flame retardants that aren't as harmful as PCBEs, or alternatives to using them altogether. Of course, keeping kids safe from fire is a good thing, but it seems to me there are other ways to accomplish this. Companies should stop using toxic PCBE flame retardants in their products, and we could use a little help with this from our elected leaders.