Are You Fire Retardant? If You're American, then Yes, You Probably Are.
You know what's retarded? The fact that the EPA doesn't require labeling on products--like matresses and couches--that contain dangerous PBDEs. PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers, are flame retardant chemicles that are added to upholstery, computer parts, mattresses, fax machines, carpets, car seats and house wiring. Apparently, Americans' bodies have the world's highest concentration of PBDEs--10 to 40 times higher than Europeans--and it's doubling every three to five years.
We eat, absorb and breathe PBDEs daily, and they end up in everything from baby's brains and mother's milk to polar bears.
"What is in commercial products is getting into the environment," says EPA scientist Linda Birnbaum, "and what's in the environment is getting into wildlife and people."
Because the EPA does not require labeling, you are unlikely to know which, if any, PDBEs are in the mattress your baby sleeps on, the couch you potato on and the electronic equipment you surf the web with.
Even though the chemical has been ubiquitously used for the past three decades, and even though animal testing has pointed to grievous dangers, the EPA likes to claim that there's not enough evidence, that the effects are unknown, and that the levels humans are exposed to are too low to matter.
That stance serves the $2.9 billion flame retardant industry -- an industry that shreds logic by arguing simultaneously that the effects on humans are unknown and that exposures are too low to cause concern.
But evidence of the danger is piling up. While test animals exposed to high levels of PBDEs developed tumors, even low levels caused deficits in learning and memory that worsened with age. The chemical may also impact behavior, disrupt endocrine function, irreparably damage reproductive systems and cause thyroid disease. A small decrease in thyroid hormone levels can produce cognitive impairment in children, including lowered IQ.
There are three main types of PBDEs: penta-, octa- and deca. It's been widely agreed that the first two are dangerous, and the European Union, Canada, and a few U.S. states have banned them. That's great, but some recycled materials, not to mention items produced before the phase-out, can still contain up to 30 percent penta or octa. Not only that, but since the 2004 E.U. ban, foreign sources have been dumping "significant amounts" of octa- and penta-laden products in the United States. And, to add insult to injury, the U.S. still manufactures deca-BDE.
The United States still manufactures deca-BDE and uses it in electronics, upholstery and textiles, despite its status as a likely carcinogen and its ability to break down into dioxin-like molecules.
"Some [Americans] have concentrations [of deca] not dissimilar to amounts in animals that cause cancer of the thyroid and liver," says Birnbaum.
PBDEs, like 62,000 other chemicals grandfathered in by the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, never underwent an approval process. In 2006, the Government Accountability Office found that the EPA "does not routinely assess the human health and environmental risks of existing chemicals and faces challenges in obtaining the information necessary to do so ... Even when EPA has toxicity and exposure information," it has had difficulty demonstrating risks or pursuing limits or bans on production and use. In 31 years, the EPA has required testing for fewer than 200 grandfathered chemicals.
What does the "P" in EPA stand for? They say "Protection." I say "Pollution." The EPA fights pressure to label foods containing GMOs, fights pressure to label products containing toxic PBDEs, and has a history of having fought trans fat labeling for decades.
Of all places, shouldn't America be a country where citizens have access to information, so that they can make informed choices?
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