Additional Sources for Finding Information on Chemicals in Flame Retardants (PBDEs):
http://www.ewg.org/reports/inthedust/summary.php
http://www.watoxics.org/content/pdf/PBDEsFactSheet.pdf
http://wwwatsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts68.html
http://www.nrdc.org/breaastmilk/default.asp
http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/pcb/
How to Protect Children From Chemicals Found in Flame Retardants (From my book: THE TOXIC SANDBOX)
1.) There are high levels of PCBs and PBDEs in farmed salmon; all salmon labeled “Atlantic” are farmed. If you feel you must feed salmon to your children, select wild-caught salmon instead, or opt for fish that are lower on the food chain, for instance shrimp, tilapia, and flounder. Do keep in mind that some researchers suggest that pregnant women and breastfeeding women should avoid fish altogether. For a list of fish that are safe to eat, go to page ____.
2.) PCBs and PBDEs build up in the fatty tissue of meat and dairy products. Therefore it makes a lot of sense to reduce the amount of fat in the food you serve your children. For instance, choose skim milk, low fat yogurt, skinless chicken breast, and turkey. Because they do not consume animal fat in their feed, grass-fed animals and fowl contain fewer PCBs and PBDEs. To buy grass-fed products go on-line to: eatwild.com. There you will find a wealth of information about the farmers as well as information on how and where to buy their products.
3.) High levels of PBDEs have been found in household dust. One way to limit PBDE exposure to small children who spend a lot of time on the floor is to vacuum floors and upholstered furniture regularly with a vacuum that has a high-efficiency, or HEPA, filter. If you can avoid it, do not use a bagless vacuum. PBDEs may be released when dumping dust and particles from the container.
4.) Wipe dusty surfaces with a wet cloth and mop floors regularly.
5.) Purchase furniture, children’s pajamas, electronics, cars, and carpets from companies that have chosen not to use PBDEs in their products.
Companies to look for include:
FURNITURE and CARPETS: Ikea, Shaw Carpets
CARS: Volvo
ELECTRONICS: Intel, Phillips, IBM, Dell, Ericsson
(Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Panasonic, NEC, Hitachi, Sony, Samsung, and Toshiba are phasing out toxic flame retardants from their products.)
The New York Times Writes About EcoMoms
Check out the The New York Times article “For New Wave of EcoMoms Saving Earth Begins at Home” .
“STUDY REVEALS TOXIC CHEMICALS IN HOUSEHOLD DUST”
Wall Street Journal – March 23, 2005
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), the watchdog environmental agency out of Washington D.C., collected house dust from ten homes in states across the country. Testing these samples, they learned that the levels of brominated fire retardants (PBDEs) found in dust bunnies under beds and behind sofas is unusually high. Prior to the dust study, they tested breast milk from ten of the twenty study participants. Comparing these studies, they were mystified to learn that there appears to be no correlation between PBDE levels in household dust and PBDE levels in our bodies. One possible explanation might be that some people tend to absorb more PBDEs than others, either metabolizing them differently or eliminating them more slowly.
In one small study a Berkeley, California family of four, a mother, father, 5-year-old daughter, and an 18-month-old son, all gave blood to be tested for levels of PBDEs, first in September of 2004, and again ninety days later. The Berkeley family used no common household cleaners, no
pesticides, had no wall-to-wall carpeting, and owned no large new appliances. The mother was a university researcher and the father, who was from the East Coast, taught high school. Their first child, a daughter, attended kindergarten and the baby, who was still breastfeeding at the time of the study, spent his days both in childcare and at home with his mother and father.
The researchers in this study discovered that, unlike PCBs that accumulate in our bodies as we age, levels of PBDEs are two to 15 fold higher for children than adults.
Most alarming was that these levels were uncomfortably close to those associated with adverse effects on reproduction and neurodevelopment in laboratory animals. While the adult’s PBDE concentrations approached U.S. median concentrations, the children’s concentrations were near the maximum found in U.S. adults.
So the question is why were the children’s levels sky-high, when the parent’s levels were average? One explanation is that because children spend more time on the floor, they have greater exposure to the penta- and deca-PBDEs in the household dust. Household dust accounts for 80% of total daily PBDE exposure for toddlers compared with 14% for adults. U.S. EPA estimates that children from one to four ingest 100mg household dust per day and adults ingest 50 mg per day.
The children’s diets could be another source of exposure. Although there is a lack of data on dietary PBDE exposure, there is good data on exposure through breast milk.
Dr. Schecter from the University of Texas School of Public Health assumes that although both children were breastfed, the baby’s level was particularly high due to more recent breastfeeding. “Babies get a whopping dose from mother’s milk,” he said. As mothers who provided this magic elixir, mother’s milk, we have to wonder at its almost curative power in offsetting the dangers of this environmental toxin.
I recently got an e-mail from a mother in California who wanted to know of I had any information about car seats manufactured without flame retardants. I unsuccessfully tried to come up with some sources for her. Does anyone know of any companies that are making car seats free of PBDEs?
A TOUGH DILEMMA: in the United States most children’s pajamas are treated with flame retardants, which can give our kids critical extra time to escape a fire. Flame resistant sleepwear is likely to be labeled as “flame resistant.” I looked around and found an alternative. The trick is to find sleepwear that has the label, “Wear snug-fitting. Not flame resistant.” The idea is that if no air is allowed to circulate between the fabric and a child’s skin, it is less likely to catch fire. My kids sleep in snug-fitting, cotton long underwear that I order from Hanna Andersson at www.HannaAndersson.com. Although it is a little pricey it lasts forever and can be handed down again and again.
STUDY: Dr. Arnold Schecter from the University of Texas conducted the first ever comprehensive study of PBDEs in mother’s milk in 2002. By analyzing forty-seven samples of milk from two Texas milk banks, he determined that levels were from 10-100 times higher in the United States than in Europe where PBDEs are used less. In fact, median blood levels found in the U.S. population show an exposure of PBDEs similar to that of Swedish laborers who actually worked in factories that manufactured deca-PBDE-
treated rubber. U.S. levels are far higher than those that warranted banning the use of PBDEs in products in Sweden.
After looking at this study, I began to wonder if it was wise to breastfeed our babies. I called Dr. David Carpenter at the University Albany School of Public Health to get some answers. Here’s what he said:
Q: Given everything we know about PCBs and PBDEs, should we breastfeed our babies?
DR. CARPENTER: There is overwhelming evidence that breastfeeding has important benefits, improving immune function in the child, protecting against chronic diseases even when the child grows to adulthood, and promoting bonding between the mother and the child. While the presence of these contaminants in breast milk is not a good thing, under almost all circumstances breastfeeding has greater benefit than risk.
Go to www.youtube.com (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT089slyyj0) and take a look at my husband’s television appearance on youtube where he talks about his effort to green New York State. I like it because he talks about me, his wife, and closes the interview with a mention of his mother, my super fantastic mother-in-law.
“How do flame retardants affect our children?”
At this point, it is difficult to really understand the full extent of what PBDEs are doing do to our children’s growing bodies. Scientific research conducted on rodents shows that like PCBs, PBDEs interfere with the thyroid gland’s ability to send its hormone thyroxine to do its job in promoting a healthy fetal brain growth. Because PCBs and PBDEs are structurally and toxicologically similar, scientists anticipate seeing the same cognitive and health problems associated with PCBs, including problems with learning, memory, attention and behavior.
