Flame Retardant Chemicals Found in Household Dust

OAKLAND, California, May 13, 2004 (ENS) - U.S. researchers have found high levels of chemicals used as flame retardants in household dust within every home they sampled. The human health impacts of the chemicals, known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), are not well known but scientists have found they cause neurological damage in laboratory animals.

PBDEs are added to plastics, electronics, textiles, and construction materials as components of a common fire retardant.

In the first national tests for PBDEs in household dust, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found the average level from nine homes was more than 4,600 parts per billion (ppb), well above the average in any previous U.S. dust study.

A tenth sample, collected in a home where products with fire retardants were recently removed, had more than 41,000 ppb of PBDEs - twice as high as any other dust study worldwide.

The PBDE concentrations measured in household dust by the Washington, DC based research organization are much higher than levels previously reported in people, animals or the environment. The organization says they pose a more direct risk of exposure to people, especially children, who continually ingest or inhale dust.

Brominated flame retardants are found in upholstery and furniture foam cushions, and in electronics. (Photo credit unknown)

The research group says its findings indicate neither the pending federal phase out of two kinds of PBDEs nor regulations enacted or under consideration in seven states go far enough.

Under a voluntary agreement brokered last November by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and chemical manufacturers, two of the three main PBDEs in use, Penta and Octa, will be taken off the U.S. market at the end of 2004.

Penta is primarily used in furniture foam and Octa in plastics for personal computers and small appliances.

But no such agreement has been reached to ban the use of a third compound known as Deca.

Deca is the most heavily used of the PBDEs - it is added to televisions, stereos, computers, hair dryers, toasters, draperies, and upholstery fabrics.

In 2001 alone, North American industry used 49 million pounds of Deca, accounting for almost half the world market.

The chemical industry argues that Deca molecules were too big to be absorbed by people's bodies and a recent risk assessment by the European Union found little public health risk from the compound.

But environmentalists and public health advocates point to evidence that disputes those positions.

Computers and office furniture emit flame retardant dust (Photo credit unknown)

In addition, research shows that Deca escapes into the environment because it is not chemically bound to products to which it is added.

One recent study of American women's breast milk found levels of Deca in 16 of 20 women tested, and a study from the University of Texas found a maximum level of Deca 40 times higher than industry's estimated maximum body burden for women who make their living disassembling computers that contain Deca.

In half of the homes sampled by EWG, the predominant PBDE present was the type solely found in Deca.

"It is no longer possible to ignore the evidence that Deca poses a threat to health and the environment," said EWG analyst Renee Sharp, principal author of the new study. "The EPA can not leave it to the states to regulate Deca on a patchwork basis. The evidence demands prompt action."

California was the first state to take action on PBDEs, enacting legislation to ban Penta and Octa beginning in 2008.

Six other states have passed or are considering bans or regulation of PBDEs. Of those, New York, Maine and Washington address Deca.

The European Union (EU) has banned the use of all PBDEs in consumer electronics beginning in mid-2006.

The EU ban was in part reaction to a Swedish study that found levels of the chemicals in breast milk in Sweden had increased 40 times from 1972 to 1997.

In September 2003, nationwide tests by EWG found record levels of PBDEs in the breast milk of American mothers.

Developed in the 1960s, the chemicals are known to be extremely persistent and accumulate in the body, much like mercury, lead and PCBs.

When it announced the voluntary phase out of Penta and Octa last year, the EPA said it has not concluded that PBDEs pose an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment and does not believe that there is a need to remove or replace products that may contain these chemicals.

Environmentalists contend there are safe alternatives to Deca and the other PBDEs that meet fire safety standards.

Ericsson, a global manufacturer of cell phones and other electronics, has banned Deca and other PBDEs from its products and applications and has found replacements at comparable cost.