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Chemical flame retardant used in foam furniture padding is accumulating
so rapidly in the breast milk of nursing mothers that environmentalists
and some scientists are expressing concern, and Europe has moved
to ban one form of it.
Little is known about the toxic nature
of the chemical, polybrominated diphenyl ether, commonly
known as PBDE. Early studies show it poses some of the same dangers
as PCB's and DDT, two chemicals that were banned in the United States
for their detrimental health effects.
One form of PBDE will be banned next year in Europe, where new
chemical agents must be proved safe before they can be used. United
States law requires proof of harm or risk before a chemical is banned.
Like PCB's and DDT, PBDE is a persistent organic pollutant, meaning
it can remain in the environment for years without breaking down.
Some of these pollutants have such an affinity for fat that they
build up in the bodies of humans and other animals from before birth
until death.
"It seems that PBDE's are an important, but generally unrecognized,
persistent organic pollutant," Robert C. Hale, a professor
at the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, and five colleagues
wrote in the journal Nature a few months ago.
Dr. Gina Solomon, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense
Council, said: "There is an enormous need to act quickly when
there is a problem with a chemical that is not only toxic but is
persistent and accumulates."
Industry uses several forms of PBDE to decrease the flammability
of various plastics. Only one form used mostly in polyurethane foam
furniture padding has been found in the environment and breast milk.
Environmental Protection Agency records show that Great Lakes Chemical
is the only domestic manufacturer of that form of PBDE.
Professor Hale, who stops short of calling for a ban on the chemical,
has hypothesized that discarded furniture
is a major source of PBDE in the environment. Whenever
anybody tosses out an old sofa, he explained, nature goes to work.
Water and sunlight break the foam into crumbling pieces that are
eventually ground to dust. Insects have been observed munching at
the material. From there, the chemical travels up the food chain
to humans.
Professor Hale has found PBDE's virtually everywhere he has looked;
in a small river along the North Carolina-Virginia border, he found
fish with the highest levels of PBDE ever recorded in an animal.
He has also collected sewage sludge samples from four states; each
sample has high concentrations of PBDE.
In 1998, Swedish scientists reported that levels of PBDE in breast
milk had increased 40-fold since 1972.
Users of PBDE could substitute another flame-retardant chemical
in its place. But PBDE has properties other flame retardants do
not, Mr. Campbell, the Great Lakes Chemical spokesman, said. It
does not discolor foam or decrease its durability as much as other
flame retardants do. And though all flame retardants evaporate into
room air in trace amounts, PBDE does so at lower levels than many
alternatives.
New York
Times January 30, 2002
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