PBDE Fire Retardants and Health Threats

With word that fire retardant polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, have been found in the breast milk and breast tissue of women in the US, there has come a new reason to worry about breast cancer. This March, Environmental Health Perspectives published two studies online documenting the increase of PBDEs in women. Dr. Robert Bigsby, says of his research on their occurence in maternal and fetal bloods samples that he now suspects that "a metabolite of PBDEs stimulates the growth of breast cancer cells.” His next line of research will be to try to produce these metabolites and determine whether these are estrogenic.

Unfortunately, the result is we have to be suspicious about the most banal objects: our upholstered furniture and padded mattresses. If the cush in that seat owes itself to polyurethane foam, chances are up to 30 percent of the foam's weight is actually composed of PBDEs. Certainly, flame retardants of some sort are necessary: the devastating fire in the Rhode Island nightclub earlier this year resulted from quick-burning polyurethane foam which lacked fire protection (see What is Polyurethane?). What's of concern, as noted in a recent report by the California Public Research Interest Group (CALPIRG), is that PBDEs are showing up in the breast milk of American women in concentrations that are increasing exponentially.

How do they get there? Since they're not chemically bound to the foam itself, PBDEs can escape into the air as dust. Eaten or inhaled, they distribute throughout the body "like a a drop of ink in a glass of water" according to the CALPIRG report. As a result, a fetus will have the same PBDE levels in its tissues as its mother. Scientists have found in animal studies that PBDEs can interrupt brain development, disrupt thyroid hormone levels, and may cause cancer. They also are chemically similar to the banned neurotoxins PCBs. PBDEs have been found everywhere, including foods like butter, potatoes, pasta, meat and milk. Even ringed seals in the arctic have turned up with them. And in studies of Vancouver B.C. women, levels of PBDEs in breast milk have doubled every 2.5 years over the last decade.

Now the state assembly of California, following moves already made by the EU, has voted to ban the use of "penta" and "octa" varieties of PBDEs by 2008. Penta-BDEs are the main PBDE type used in upholstered items ranging from furniture to airline and automobile seats. In 1999, 19 million pounds of penta-BDEs were manufactured worldwide, with 98 percent of this for North American goods. Given the state's consumer clout and huge population, if the California ban becomes law it will be a big step to phasing out PBDEs from the food chain. It may even lead to the voluntary end of their manufacture by the two main US producers, Great Lakes Chemical Corporation and Albemarle Corporation.

What You Can Do

As a consumer
So what do you do about your easy chair, not to mention any other upholstered furniture? You might look to IKEA, which is now producing PBDE-free furniture. If you have a polyurethane foam mattress or futon, consider replacing it with one containing coiled springs or naturally fire-resistant wool. Also, look for wool padding in and covers for furniture. Dan Jacobson, legislative director for Environment California, recommends that since there is no labeling standard, consumers should write companies to ask if their products contain PBDEs. There are alternative fire retardants for soft foam, such as the ammonium polyphosphates used in Denmark (where all brominated fire retardants have been phased out), but these have yet to be widely taken up in the US.

Furniture: Ikea: www.ikea-usa.com. Also, look for non-upholstered options such as those at The Wooden Duck (www.thewoodenduck.com); you can always add a throw pillow for greater comfort.

Wool and wool and cotton mattresses: Organic Bliss Innerspring Mattress: www.tomorrowsworld.com; 800-229-7571; Natura Sleep Systems: www.naturalhomeproducts.com; 707-824-0914; or Natural Aurora Mattress: www.greenfeet.com; 888-5-NATURE.

Wool and organic cotton futons: Abundant Earth: www.abundantearth.com, 888-513-2784; Organic Cotton Alternatives: www.organiccottonalts.com, 888-645-4452 Tonkatinkers Kreations: www.tonkatinkers.com/futons.htm, 309-837-3150.

As a citizen
More effective for removing PBDEs from the food chain than tossing all your polyurethane foam into a landfill will be the cessation of penta- and octa-BDE production. Californians should urge their senators to vote for the ban and all Americans should urge their state and federal representatives to ban brominated fire retardant use in consumer goods. With the exponential increase in PBDE contamination, we will find out only too soon how dangerous these compounds really are.