Green Science Policy Institute Newsletters

Bad news about increased usage and human toxicity of halogenated flame retardants

Three new messages with very worrisome news about both increased usage and human toxicity of halogenated flame retardants are below. This is in spite of the recent decaBDE phase out and the Green Science Policy Institute's success in stopping new flammability standards that could have led to billions of pounds of additional BFRs and CFRs.

1. According to the February 1 issue of C&E News, Albermarle's profits rose 377% in 2009 compared to 2008:

California girls and girls of color have higher levels of pentaBDE

Body burdens of brominated flame retardants and other persistent organo-halogenated compounds and their descriptors in US girls, by Gayle C.Windham et al, published on-line in Environmental Research.
The pdf is attached and a press release follows.

Consumer Choice Fire Safety Act

Mark Leno introduced the Consumer Choice Fire Safety Act February 1, 2011. This Senate bill, SB147, calls for the development of an alternative furniture flammability standard that will increase fire safety and can be met without flame retardant chemicals.

Flame Retardant Chemicals in Baby Products

In a paper published on line on May 18, 2011 in Environmental Science & Technology, Heather Stapleton and colleagues found that 80% of baby products tested contained toxic or untested flame retardant chemicals. Foam from 100 changing table pads, nursing pillows, car seats, and other baby products were tested. Here are a few of the findings:

• 36% of the baby products contained the same cancer-causing Tris removed from baby pajamas in 1977
• Levels of Tris were up to 12% of the weight of the foam
• 79% of the products contained toxic or untested flame retardants

Flame Retardant Health Findings of 2010 and Policy Possibilities for 2011

Dear friend,

Please find below significant research of 2010 linking adverse reproductive, neurological, thyroid, and carcinogenic heath effects with flame retardants used in furniture, baby products, electronics, and buildings.

These findings should help facilitate 2011 changes in policy and practice to reduce the health burden from these chemicals. Please see below for information on how you can support these changes.

Reproductive

Flame Retardant in Butter, "Contaminants in Food – Brominated Flame Retardants" in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research

Dear all,

There has been excellent press coverage of research from Arnie Schecter and his colleagues finding high levels of a flame retardant in butter.
http://news.discovery.com/human/flame-retardants-butter.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1
Please see the abstract of the research below. Write us if you would like a copy of the entire article.

Flame retardants and environmental justice: Lower income households have higher exposure

Are PBDEs an environmental equity concern?
Exposure disparities by socioeconomic status

Ami R. Zota, Gary Adamkiewicz, Rachel A. Morello-Frosch
Environ. Sci. Technol., Article ASAP, DOI: 10.1021/es101723d, Pub Date (Web): June 28, 2010

Flame Retardants: CHE call tomorrow at ten and new study showing highest levels in California dust in low income homes

CHE Alaska call: Health Hazards of Toxic Flame
Retardants in Everyday Products
http://www.healthandenvironment.org/wg_calls/8627
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
10 a.m. Pacific / 1 p.m. Eastern

FM550 flame retardant ingredients detected in 7 Arctic species

Firemaster 550 (FM550,) a mixture of four flame retardants that are either known to be toxic or lack adequate information, continues to be used in furniture and baby products to meet the California furniture flammability standard Technical Bulletin 117 (TB117).

Two of these ingredients were found in seven species in the Arctic according to the report attached, "New brominated flame retardants in Arctic biota".

Increasing flame retardant production and contamination problems in China

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My TEDx talk is on line

Dear friends,

You might like to check out my TEDx talk at
TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch - Arlene Blum - Plastic Pollution In Our Homes

Scientist Arlene Blum speaks about the connection between plastic pollution and flame retardants.
About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.

New Papers on Neuroendocrine and Reproductive Effects of PBDEs

Two new papers discuss how PBDE congeners can cross blood–placenta and blood–brain barriers, causing subtle changes in some parameters of neurobehavior, changes in circulating thyroid hormone levels, and changes in reproductive endpoints. Some of these effects appear to be irreversible. Please let Rebecca know if you would like a pdf of either of these papers.

1) Kodavanti PRS, Curras-Collazo MC (2010); Neuroendocrine actions of organohalogens: Thyroid hormones, arginine vasopressin, and neuroplasticity, Front. Neuroendocrinol. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2010.06.005

PentaBDE in “organic" compost, DecaBDE in Birds

Here are a couple current stories on the flame retardants around us:

1. Significant PBDE levels detected in “organic" compost distributed in San Francisco
2. New review of PBDE contamination in birds

1. Dr. Robert Hale has measured an average total of 731 ppb of PBDEs in sewage sludge-derived "organic" compost which the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has distributed to gardeners since 2007.

The report prepared by Dr. Hale can be found here: http://www.sourcewatch.org/images/2/2f/Compost2010_analysis-5.pdf

PLEASE HELP: For the Gulf, it is death in the ocean from the top to the bottom

Our colleague and co-author Susan Shaw of MERI just returned from the Gulf where, accompanied by a London Times crew, she dove in the oil slick. Her informative short op-ed is attached. Please pass this on to your friends, colleagues, and journalists.
Gulf Sea Life Fate Worse than Death by Oil

Prenatal flame retardant exposure reduces IQ in NY children

From an NPR program discussing flame retardants and neurodevelopmental effects.
"the kids with the highest exposure scored on average about five points lower in IQ than the kids with the lower prenatal exposures."

As predicted by dozens of animal studies, PBDE exposure during human development appears to scramble brain development and reduce IQ just as lead exposure does.

Reduced human fertility linked to flame retardant exposure

The first research linking flame retardant exposure to reduced human fertility, carried out by Kim Harley, and collaborators, is available and described below in a press release from UC Berkeley.

Reducing intrinsic chemical hazard, GreenBuild interview, February 11 Flame Retardant Dilemma

Dear all,

I recently met with Paul Anastas who heads EPA's Office of Research and Development and is considered the "Father of Green Chemistry" to suggest research ideas on the impacts of halogenated flame retardants in buildings.

Toddlers have higher levels of flame retardants than their mothers

In a newly published study by Sonya Lunder et al., PBDEs were assessed in blood samples collected from 20 mothers and their children. The sum of PBDEs for children were about 2.8 times higher than for mothers. This research suggests that children’s increased hand-to-mouth activity and exposures from breast milk may result in greater ingestion of PBDEs than adults. Testing mother-child pairs can control for variability between households, diets, and perhaps even genetics.

Two important releases on flame retardants

Below are excerpts from two interesting articles from yesterday:
1. A news article about chlorinated tris flame retardants in Ikea furniture from Slate
2. A press release from a UC Berkeley study showing that pentaBDE, used in furniture and baby product foam, may alter human thyroid function which, in pregnant women, may impact birth outcomes.

Arlene

My Ikea Couch Reeks of Chemicals:
Why are flame retardants required in furniture, anyway?
By Florence Williams
http://www.slate.com/id/2255573/pagenum/all/#p2

Here are a couple excerpts form the Slate article:

Web talk on flame retardants: Emerging science and policy, and other news

You can hear leading health scientists and me speaking about Flame Retardants: Emerging Science and Policy Considerations. during a call put together by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, You can download the speakers' PowerPoint presentation
at: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/?module=uploads&func=download&fileId... .

This MP3 recording is now available at: http://che.webfactional.com/audio/CHEfertility_flameretardants_4-15-10.mp3

*Ami Zota, Sc.D., UCSF on exposure to flame retardants

What is in your couch? New LEED credit for avoiding toxics inside buildings

The Green Science Policy Institute has three project updates to share:

(1) We are conducting a new research study on the association between the TB117 label and the flame retardants present in couches. To find out if there are halogenated flame retardants in your couch, please consider joining our Couch Study. Contact Michelle Gabriel for the criteria to join our study. Your donation of a foam sample from your couch will contribute to our efforts to reduce toxics in our homes and bodies.

Your Calls Urgently Needed: Eight California Senators Vote with Bromine Industry

This Monday at a hearing of the Senate Business and Professions Committee , eight California Senators – Curren Price, Bill Emerson, Lou Correa, Ed Hernandez, Gloria Negrete McLeod, Juan Vargas, Mimi Walters, and Mark Wyland – vote- “No” to Mark Leno’s SB 147 to give consumers the choice to purchase fire safe furniture without toxic flame retardantds.

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