Flame Retardants in the News-

Forgive my slowing down of posts this week. I'm visiting family, and have been happily chasing my nephews around, watching the firefly show, taking in some music and art at an outdoor festival, and generally just loving summer.

Mostly the happy part of this post ends here. As I read some news today I noticed two articles about flame retardants, and one in particular is quite troubling.

Turns out a flame retardant, called Chlorinated Tris, which was outlawed in children's sleepers in the 1970s, is showing up again (and has been being used for a long time) in sofas, other furniture, and in baby carriers.

That last one really stopped me.

But the EPA says it's a safe chemical. The article explains that the studies the EPA used to defend this statement were (shocker) funded and in some cases run by the chemical industry. No conflict of interest there, folks. Many weren't even peer reviewed.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel goes on to tell us that the EPA's findings are in stark contrast to important groups like "World Health Organization, the National Cancer Institute, the National Research Council and even the EPA's own internal assessment".

Here's what the World Health Organization had to say about Chlorinated Tris:

"Chlorinated Tris causes cancer "at all levels that were tested" in male and female rats. The organization said the exposed animals showed an increase in liver, kidney, brain and testicular cancer"

This paper also included a link to a Q and A about Chlorinated Tris. But be warned, it doesn't tell you what items have it. There are very few answers, and consumers can't pick and choose their way out of it.


Now from the Globe and Mail, Cananda banned the manufacturing of Deca, a different flame retardant. They will still allow the importing and sale of products with the chemical. The main reason for the ban was that the manufacture of Deca is poisonous to wildlife. Then why exactly, should people be allowed to wear it, sit on it, and be surrounded by it?

Here in the U.S.,we need the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act to help us straighten this out, stat!