Flame Retardants

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. HB 4465 has been introduced in Michigan to phase out deca-BDE in residential furniture, mattresses, TVs, and computers.

IN THIS SECTION

Are Toxic Flame-Retardants the Next PCBs?

Toxic Levels are Rising

Health Impacts

Firefighters Support Banning PBDEs

Safer Alternatives Are Widely Used

Bans Gaining Momentum

HB 4465

Organizations Supporting HB 4465

MDEQ on Deca-BDE

Protect Children, Fire Fighters and the Great Lakes

Limit Toxic Flame-Retardants
Support HB 4465!

Fighting fires does not have to have toxic consequences. PBDEs, flame-retardants that are rapidly accumulating in our bodies and the Great Lakes, have been found to be toxic to animals and may threaten our own health. Safe, affordable alternatives are available.

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 U.S., 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.

FIRE FIGHTERS AT RISK

The Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union endorsed HB 4465 to help protect fire fighters from dec-BDE.
The Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs supports HB 4465 because deca and other PBDEs “have been identified as having adverse physiological and development impacts on humans”, “there are readily available substitute products that do not exhibit these effects”, and “when PBDE compounds are exposed to fire they burn and release dense fumes and a highly corrosive gas know as hydrogen bromide which expose firefighters to additional chemical hazards”.
The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) supports legislation banning deca-BDE as "a step in the right direction for improving the health and safety of our fire fighters. IAFF states: "Many studies involving fire fighters exposed to these and other toxic gases during active fire fighting, overhaul, and long term exposure from these chemicals penetrating gear, have found that fire fighters have a much greater risk of contracting cancer, heart and lung disease, and other debilitating diseases. While we support the concept of flame retardant chemicals, there are alternatives that do not contain bromine or chlorine and are much safer for fire fighters than PBDEs."

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."

BANS GAINING MOMENTUM

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.

A Michigan Department of Environmental Quality advisory committee recommends “legislation banning Deca-BDE…contingent on the availability of a safe alternative.”

Download this information as a fact sheet (pdf).
Note: fact sheet was created by MNCEH and includes all references.

Michigan legislators can protect children, firefighters
and our Great Lakes from deca-BDE!

Support HB 4465 to phase out deca-BDE in mattresses and residential furniture
by 2009 and in televisions and computers by 2012.

Organizations that support HB 4465 (partial list):

Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union

Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs

American Academy of Pediatrics (Michigan Chapter)

Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS)

Association for Children’s Mental Health

Clean Water Action

Clean Water Fund

Clinton County Family Resource Center

Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice

East Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC)

Ecology Center

Environment Michigan

Healthy Homes Coalition of West Michigan

Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan

Local Motion

Michigan Coalition for Children and Families

Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health

Michigan Environmental Council

Michigan Nurses Association

Science and Environmental Health Network

National Organizations that support restricting or banning PBDEs (partial list):

American Academy of Pediatrics (Leadership Forum)

American Public Health Association

Breast Cancer Fund

International Association of Fire Fighters

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on Deca-BDE

Download statements (pdf) excerpted from “Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers: A Scientific Review with Risk Characterization and Recommendations,” a May 2007 draft report by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Toxics Steering Group.

The full report is available online at:
www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/deq-keytopics-tsg-pbdereview_187119_7.pd

Recently the International Association of Fire Fighters, an organization based in Washington, D.C., issued a statement advocating banning the sale of PBDE containing products. Click here to see their statement (pdf).

For more information on deca-BDE, please see the excellent fact sheets from Clean Production Action:

Deca-BDE and BFR Substitution in the Electronics Industry (pdf)

Electronic Products Meet Fire Safety Standards without Deca-BDE (pdf)