State Panel Recommends Ban on Toxic Flame Retardant

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State Panel Recommends Ban on Toxic Flame Retardant

August 4, 2008

_http://www.ecocenter.org/press/releases/20080804.php_

(http://www.ecocenter.org/press/releases/20080804.php)

 

Medical, health, and environmental groups urge swift passage of pending

legislation to protect health, Great Lakes, & firefighters from **the next

PCBs**

 

 

 

Ann Arbor, MI – The state*s Interdepartmental Toxics Steering Group just

released the long-awaited final report on the hazards of the common

flame-retardants, Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), which are under

intense

scrutiny by the Michigan Legislature because of concerns they are ending up in

the

Great Lakes and in people.

 

The report makes an unequivocal call for **a legislative ban on Deca-BDE

contingent on the availability of a safe alternative,** significantly boosting

efforts to quickly pass HB 4465, which would phase-out deca-BDE, the only

remaining commercial type of PBDE, in four product categories for which safer

alternatives are already being used.

 

The panel, led by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, found

that deca-BDE “has been shown to cause neurodevelopmental effects and

reductions in thyroid hormone levels in developing animals.†The report also

states

that people have **significant potential for exposure to Deca-BDE** due to its

widespread use in household products and that deca-BDE has been widely

detected in the Great Lakes region and in the tissues of humans, fish, birds,

polar

bears, and sharks. PBDE*s are very similar in chemical structure and

behavior to PCBs.

 

**The report sets out a clear direction for the state to move away from the

use of a toxic chemical that ends up in our children and in all of us, as

well as in our lakes, streams, and fish.** said Ken Fletcher, of the Michigan

Nurses Association. **We strongly urge swift passage of this legislation to

protect public health.** In animal studies, exposure to deca-BDE has resulted

in

adverse impacts on the liver, brain, reproductive system, and thyroid. It's

also considered a possible human carcinogen.

 

HB 4465 – which would phase-out deca-BDE in mattresses, residential

furniture, televisions, and computers – is currently being debated by the

House

Committee on Great Lakes and Environment.

 

The bill is supported by a diverse coalition of groups including the

Michigan Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Michigan Nurses

Association, the Learning Disabilities Association and the major environmental

groups

in the state. Both the Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union and the

Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs support the bill. The Association noted

**when PBDE compounds are exposed to fire they burn and release dense fumes and

a

highly corrosive gas known as hydrogen bromide which expose firefighters to

additional chemical hazards,** and further noted **there are readily

available substitute products that do not exhibit these effects.**

 

**The nation’s leading manufacturers are moving away from deca-BDE because

there are readily available alternatives that have been shown to be safer,**

said Genevieve Howe, of the Michigan Network for Children’s Environmental

Health. **If Dell, Sony, Phillips, Sealy, Serta, Simmons and many other major

manufacturers can agree that this chemical is too hazardous, our state leaders

need to follow suit.**

 

Some of Michigan’s leading companies no longer add this chemical to their

products including Steelcase, Herman Miller, and La-Z-Boy. “Now we need

Michigan legislators to take the next step and phase out deca-BDE from other

uses to

truly protect kids and the environment,†said Katie Kelly of Clean Water

Fund.

 

In 2004, Michigan banned the only other PBDEs that are used commercially,

penta- and octa-BDE. That legislation called for the DEQ to determine the risk

posed by the release of other PBDEs to human health and the environment. New

evidence demonstrates that deca-BDE can break down into the already banned

penta and octa.

 

**It*s time to finish the job and phase-out this toxic flame retardant,**

said Mike Shriberg, PhD, Policy Director for the Ecology Center. **Michigan

should follow the lead of other states and phase out this toxic flame retardant

before we have another PCB on our hands. The *Great Lakes State* needs to

stand up for the health of the Lakes and mitigate yet another chemical disaster

in this ecosystem.**

 

The full report is available at MDEQ*s website as **PBDE Background Paper

5-2008** _http://michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3307_29693_32185---,00.html_

(http://michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3307_29693_32185---,00.html)

 

The Michigan Network for Children’s Environmental Health

_http://www.mnceh.org/_ (http://www.mnceh.org/) is a coalition of health

professionals,

health-affected groups, environmental organizations, and others dedicated to a

safe

and less toxic world for Michigan's children.

 

 

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