For years, manufacturers have added chemicals to plastics and fabrics so they won't catch on fire or burn easily when exposed to flame or high heat. Some of the more widely used of these additives are polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs.

Are Toxic Flame-Retardants The Next PCBs?

• PBDEs - polybrominated diphenyl ethers, commonly used as flame-retardants - are added to textiles, foam products, and plastics to make them difficult to burn. There are three commercial forms of PBDEs: penta-BDE, octa-BDE, and deca-BDE. Deca-BDE is often added to drapes, carpets, furniture upholstery, and the plastic casings of electronics.
• In 2004, the Michigan Legislature banned manufacturing, processing and distribution of materials containing more than 0.1% penta-BDE and octa-BDE, respectively. However, under certain circumstances, deca can break down into more toxic forms of PBDEs, including the banned octa-BDE.
• Deca continues to be used heavily in the United States. Over 40% of all deca produced worldwide is used in North America.
• PBDEs are structurally very similar to PCBs, chemicals once favored by industry but ultimately banned in the 1970s because of their high toxicity. Like PCBs, PBDEs are extremely persistent in the environment and can accumulate in the fatty tissues of living organisms.

Toxic Levels Are Rising

• PBDE levels "in human tissues in North America have increased significantly over time, and are much higher compared to levels in Europe or Japan.
• Limited studies indicate that children accumulate higher levels of PBDEs than adults.
• Lake Michigan salmon were found to contain PBDEs at levels above 100 parts per billion, "one of the world's highest concentrations for salmon in open water." PBDE levels in Great Lakes walleye and lake trout rose exponentially from 1980 to 2000, doubling every 3-4 years.
• Workers who recycle, repair, and maintain computers have very high levels of PBDEs.
• In the United States, PBDEs have been found in the breast milk of women at levels 10 to 100 times higher than those found in Europe.

Health Impacts

• Learning and Memory: Exposure to deca-BDE in mice and rats during brain development "can give rise to irreversible changes in adult brain function.
• Reproductive: Rats exposed to PBDEs experienced a delayed onset of puberty and reproductive development.
• Cancer: Rodents who ate deca-BDE developed liver tumors, causing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to classify deca as a "possible human carcinogen.
• Thyroid: PBDEs can disrupt homeostatic thyroid levels in mice. Decreased concentrations of the thyroid hormone can lead to decreased IQ in offspring.
• Safer Alternatives Are Widely Used
• Many electronics companies already or will soon meet fire safety standards without using deca-BDE including Dell, HP, Toshiba, Apple, Sony, Panasonic, Phillips, and Samsung.
• Mattress companies Sealy, Simmons, and Serta do not use deca-BDE in their products. IKEA sells only PBDE-free office furniture.
• Michigan-based La-Z-Boy Incorporated and Steelcase Furniture do not use deca-BDE in their products.
• Michigan-based Herman Miller states that deca-BDE is an "unhealthy/dangerous fire retardant chemical and one that is definitely not used in our product offering." Their reasoning includes that deca-BDE "has been traced in animals like polar bears, fish" and "has appeared in mother's breast milk.
• Michigan and nine other states already regulate the use of penta-BDE and octa-BDE. Industries voluntarily withdrew the manufacture of penta-BDE by 2005 because of evidence that the chemical may be toxic and traces were found in breast milk.
• Washington state and Maine recently banned deca for many uses.

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on Deca-BDE

• Download statements excerpted from Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers: A Scientific Review with Risk Characterization and Recommendations by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Toxics Steering Group (pdf)
• The full report is also available (pdf)