POISONED UPHOLSTERY
Dangerous PBDEs lurking in household furniture.
While enjoying my routine run on a trail in the woods near my home, I noticed someone had dumped furniture alongside the lake. Unfortunately, people don’t realize that pollution not only harms the environment, but humanity as well. Everything we do to the earth comes full circle. Dumping furniture into our rivers and streams exposes these bodies to PBDE, polybrominated diphenylether.
Polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) are a class of chemicals used as flame retardants, a strategy for preventing household fires. For years, manufacturers have added these to plastics and fabrics so they don't catch fire or burn easily when exposed to flames or high heat. There are three commercial forms of PBDEs: penta-BDE, octa-BDE and deca-BDE. Deca-BDE is often applied to drapes, carpets, furniture upholstery, plastic casings, electronics and computers. Most of us are in constant contact with consumer goods containing PBDEs. Research has suggested that PBDEs are accumulating in our bodies, rivers, lakes and wildlife.
A study published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) revealed that young children have three times the levels of fire retardant chemicals in their bloodstream as their mothers do in their bodies. The EWG also conducted tests for chemical flame-retardants in the breast milk of American women and found high levels of these neurotoxins in every participant tested. Not only has PBDE been found in humans, but wildlife as well. An analysis of six species of bay fish, conducted for the EWG, found polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) in every fish sampled.
Laboratory research on animals has suggested PBDEs could lead to multiple health hazards, including permanent learning and memory impairment, behavioral changes, hearing deficits, delayed onset of puberty, fetal malformations, and possibly cancer. Scientists believe the known health effects of PBDEs could possibly stem from their ability to disrupt the body's thyroid hormone balance. EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman said in a recent interview that she is concerned about the spread of PBDEs, but that they don’t know enough yet to take action. A great deal of data and research will need to be conducted before the U.S. bans PBDEs, so it is up to the individual to take action now. Europe banned the two PBDE compounds that have been shown to accumulate in human bodies, so hopefully the U.S. will follow.
What can we do in the meantime? Buy from eco-friendly businesses committed to protecting your health and the environment. Also, make sure that you don’t let dust accumulate in your home; some research has suggested that chemicals gather in dust. As consumers, we have the power to change the way companies do business by refusing to buy products that contain harmful chemicals. Fire prevention is important, and flame-retardants do help, but are these chemicals really worth the toxic consequences to our health and that of the environment?
References:
1. Axys Analytical Services Ltd. 2003. Environmental Working Group. PCB congeners analysis; Tissue samples; Axys method: MLA-010 Rev04. Data Package: 4226 L5841-1 to -10. Report from Axys Analytical Services Ltd. to Environmental Working Group. July 2003.
2. World Health Organization (WHO). 1994. Brominated diphenyl ethers. Environmental Health Criteria 162. International Program on Chemical Safety
3. Great Lakes Chemical. 2003. http://www.greatlakeschem.com
4. Environmental Working Group (EWG). 2003. Tainted Catch. Toxic fire retardants are building up rapidly in San Francisco Bay fish - and people. July 2003. www.ewg.org
5. European Union (EU). 2003. Directive 2003/11/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6
February 2003 amending for the 24th time Council Directive 76/769/EEC relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (pentabromodiphenyl ether, octabromodiphenyl ether), Official Journal L 42, 15.02.2003: 45-46; May 14-16 2001: 299-302. http://europa.eu.int/
Other Trusted Sources:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
