US: New flame retardants present in the air around Great Lakes, Arctic: TBB & TBPH

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study's pdf currently open access

2-Ethylhexyl

Tetrabromobenzoate and Bis(2-ethylhexyl) Tetrabromophthalate Flame

Retardants in the Great Lakes Atmosphere

Yuning Ma, Marta Venier, and A. Hites

Environmental Science and Technology 46(1):204–208 2012

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Preliminary

evidence of the in vitro effects of BDE-47 on innate immune responses in

children with autism spectrum disorders.

Ashwood P, Schauer J, Pessah IN, Van de Water J.

J Neuroimmunol. 2009 Mar 31;208(1-2):130-5.

pdf

here

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" TBB and TBPH are still part of the same chemical class as PB-DEs,

so the regulatory framework should really tackle these flame retardants

as a class... "

Flame retardants present in the air around Great Lakes,

Arctic.

WINDSOR, Ont. -- New flame retardants meant to replace their toxic

predecessors are showing up in the air around the Great Lakes in

increasing concentrations and travelling as far north as the

Arctic.

These new findings raise a red flag that these chemicals need to be more

closely examined to see if they accumulate in the environment and

animals, according to Hayley Hung, a research scientist at Environment

Canada, who found concentrations of tetrabromobenzoate (TBB) and

tetrabromophthalate (TBPH) in both Canada's High Arctic and the Tibetan

Plateau.

" It's not just a localized problem, " Hung said. " (They)

could become a global pollutant. "

Hung said TBB and TBPH are among the components in Firemaster flame

retardants, which are used in everyday objects such as car upholstery,

computer equipment, carpeting and polyurethane foam. They get off-gassed

into the air when they're applied (usually sprayed) onto

products....

Hites and his team of researchers measured the presence of TBB and TBPH

in more than 500 air samples collected over two years at sites around the

Great Lakes, including Cleveland and Chicago, as well as farther east in

Point Petre, Ont.

The researchers found the concentration of TBB and TBPH molecules was

doubling about every two years - which Hites said is " surprisingly

fast " - and that the concentration was higher in urban areas,

especially Cleveland.

The findings, published in the Jan. 3 issue of Environmental Science and

Technology, shows the environmental concentrations of TBB and TBPH are

increasing relatively rapidly....

TBB and TBPH are still part of the same chemical class as PB-DEs, so the

regulatory framework should really tackle these flame retardants as a

class, rather than in a piecemeal fashion one chemical compound at a

time, she said. Canada risks getting stuck in a vicious cycle in which it

is playing catch-up to regulate old compounds while new ones show up in

the environment, she said....

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Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian

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