Rachel's #912: TOXIC FLAME RETARDENT

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At 05:13 PM 7/2/07, you wrote:

>Oakland Tribune, Jun. 8, 2007

>[Printer-friendly version]

>

>FLAME RETARDANT MAY BE MORE TOXIC THAN THOUGHT

>

>By Douglas Fischer, Staff Writer

>

>OAKLAND -- Previous assumptions about the health risks of one of the

>world's most widely used flame retardants are wrong, scientists say,

>with new data suggesting the compound is both more toxic and

>widespread in humans and wildlife than thought. The chemical, known as

> " Deca, " is a close cousin to PCBs and the bigger brother of two flame

>retardants already banned in Europe and several states, including

>California.

>

>A bill attempting to banish Deca from consumer products in California

>fell short Thursday evening in the Assembly and appeared doomed.

>

>More than 56,000 tons of Deca were infused into consumer goods

>worldwide last year, chiefly TV sets. Scientists knew Deca leached out

>into the environment, contaminating house dust and food and, by

>extension, our blood and breast milk. But they thought it was largely

>inert, harmless and quickly passed from our bodies.

>

>Evidence from California's Department of Toxic Substances Control and

>the Virginia Institute of Marine Science undermines those assumptions.

>What was thought to be harmless is likely not, say scientists

>conducting the research. Deca appears to be quickly absorbed by

>organisms and quickly broken down into long-lasting and far more toxic

>compounds.

>

>Maine last week passed a bill banning the compound; a similar measure

>is already on the books in Washington state. Illinois lawmakers are

>also contemplating a ban.

>

> " What's troubling is our assumptions, " said Rob Hale, a professor at

>the Virginia Institute who led some of the research. " We long assumed

>these products did not leach out of plastics or get into the

>environment. That was etched in stone.

>

> " Now out pops data on birds of prey... that all point to not only does

>Deca get out and get into organisms, it can also be broken down into

>(compounds) that have all these toxic effects. "

>

>The data comes from addled eggs of peregrine falcons and other raptors

>in California, Washington, the East Coast and China.

>

>The two dozen or so eggs tested so far indicate those raptors -

>including two falcon pairs nesting in the Bay Area -- have the highest

>chemical loads of Deca of any living organism tested, a red flag for a

>species that only recently rebounded from DDT exposure in the late

>1970s.

>

>Deca is part of a family of flame retardants known as PBDEs, or

>polybrominated diphenyl ethers. It's the only PBDE still on the

>market.

>

>Siblings Penta and Octa were banned earlier in the decade in

>California and Europe after scientists concluded both compounds were

>bioaccumulative and toxic. The largest domestic manufacturer ceased

>making the chemicals in 2005.

>

>Deca escaped any ban in part because scientists couldn't find evidence

>of similar effects. (The names come from the number of bromine atoms

>attached to the molecule: 10 for Deca, eight for Octa, five for Penta.

>The fewer rings, the smaller the molecule and the more toxic and

>persistent it is for living organisms.)

>

>Industry groups note that the chemical is astoundingly effective at

>stopping a very real risk -- fire -- in plastics. Manufacturers say

>they don't need much Deca to protect products; plastics with Deca can

>be readily recycled, unlike those with other additives; the amounts

>contaminating humans remains, so far, fairly minuscule; and much less

>is known about alternative flame retardants.

>

> " What's the right balance? " asked John Kyte, North American director

>for the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum, representing Deca's

>manufacturers.

>

> " Deca does not pose a threat to human health and the environment. Can

>I say that definitively? No I can't. But no one can for any compound.

>

> " The bottom line is we don't want to produce -- and we don't want to

>have on the market -- a product that's not safe, " he said.

>

>The egg data, in conjunction with other ongoing research, suggests

>otherwise.

>

>The values range from about 0.5 parts per million to 3.5 parts per

>million and are 10 to 15 times higher than what scientists find in

>Swedish raptors. One egg from China tested at 12 parts per million,

>astonishing scientists.

>

>The levels are nearly 100 times beyond body burdens found in aquatic

>species such as harbor seals and terns. It is also 100 times what is

>commonly found in humans, although data is scant on the latter point

>and some evidence suggests children are more contaminated than their

>parents.

>

>Such a concentration seems small: A drop or three of Deca into a

>swimming pool. But the molecules are many. Any drop of water from that

>pool would contain 31 trillion molecules of Deca.

>

>Kim Hooper, a research supervisor in DTSC's Environmental Chemistry

>lab, believes researchers misread the chemical because they focused

>initially on aquatic species and thus never noticed a problem.

>Peregrines in urban areas eat pigeons and sparrows -- scavengers of

>human society. It appears now -- and for reasons little understood -

>that Deca accumulates in such a terrestrial food web but doesn't in

>the more well-studied aquatic food web.

>

> " We haven't thought these things were getting in biota in any

>amounts, " said Kim Hooper, who is supervising the research at DTSC.

> " Now that it is in biota, you say, 'What are the terrestrial wildlife

>we've looked at?'

>

> " Well, the answer is essentially none. "

>

>Raptor researchers say they doubt Deca endangers the birds the way DDT

>or PCBs did a generation ago. Thirty years ago, California had only

>two peregrine nests statewide. Today there are between 200 and 300.

>

>There's also a lot of evidence that Deca quickly breaks down in the

>body and the environment to smaller, more toxic compounds -- such as

>Octa, said Heather Stapleton, an assistant professor at Duke

>University's Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences.

>

>The science on this is largely settled, she said.

>

>But not to industry, which maintains the chemical is largely inert.

>And that uncertainty has left lawmakers paralyzed.

>

>Maine was one of the first states to buck the trend and ban Deca, with

>a bill clearing the Legislature last week. The state of Washington was

>earlier, with the governor in April inking into law a bill that would

>ban Deca once safe and suitable alternatives are found.

>

>But in California, a bill by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber,

>

>D-San Jose, to ban Deca outright in California could only muster 30 of

>the 41 votes necessary to clear the Assembly Thursday.

>

>A different bill banning a wide class of brominated and chlorinated

>flame retardants from mattresses, bedding and domestic furniture did

>clear the Assembly late Wednesday. But while Deca is subject to that

>ban, manufacturers say they don't use Deca in household furniture or

>bedding.

>

> " We're taking on the manufacturers of all consumer products, " Lieber

>said last week. " This is a big struggle.

>

> " But we have to push this as hard as we can. There's no doubt in my

>mind that this is the biggest public health threat we're facing. "

>

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