Fire retardant chemicals found in toddlers' blood ... USA TODAY Sept. 4, 2008

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http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-09-03-fire-retardants-children_N.htm Fire retardant

chemicals found in toddlers' blood

By Liz Szabo,

USA TODAY Sept. 4, 2008

A new study finds that young children have high

levels of chemical fire retardants in their blood. Toddlers and preschoolers had levels

of the chemicals that were on average three times higher than their mothers',

according to a study of 20 families by the Environmental Working Group, which

has campaigned against the chemicals for several years. The chemicals, called

polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, are widely used in televisions,

remote controls, computers, mattresses and other products. Scientists are concerned that the

chemicals cause brain damage in animals and may cause hyperactivity in

children, says Jimmy , a member of the

American Academy of Pediatrics' committee on environmental health, who was not involved with the

study. Doctors also are concerned that the chemicals affect the reproductive

organs and hormone systems. A Danish study in 2007 found that boys whose

mothers had high levels of fire retardants in their breast milk were more

likely to have undescended testicles. "The government should really

look into taking greater steps to protecting our kids," says. Although says flame

retardants may protect children by slowing the spread of fires, he says

government regulators and manufacturers should find less toxic alternatives. Babies and children are especially

vulnerable to fire retardants, says Birnbaum, senior toxicologist with

the Environmental Protection Agency. Children are exposed through

breastfeeding, as well as by crawling around in household dust, which is often

highly contaminated with fire retardants. Babies may also be in greater danger

because their bodies are still developing, she says. Birnbaum notes that Americans tend

to have much higher levels of fire retardants in their bodies than Europeans,

because fire safety requirements in the

USA are much stricter.

Europe also more strictly limits the use of fire

retardants, the report says. Although two kinds of fire

retardants, known as Penta and Octa, are no longer made in the

USA , they are

found in older products, the report says. Penta also may be found in imported

in furniture. say the government should close that loophole. "If

you are going to ban it in the U.S. ,

then you should ban it in imports," says. Another fire retardant, called Deca,

is still widely used. The report notes that some companies — such as

Nokia, Sony-sson and Samsung — no longer use Deca and are phasing out

related fire retardants, according to the report. Kyte, a spokesman for an

industry group called the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum, says the

levels of fire retardants found in children in the study were low — an

average of 62 parts per billion in children, compared to 25 parts per billion

in their mothers. Kyte notes that the bulk of research

on fire retardants comes from animal studies. "Flame retardants save actual

human lives, and no illness, ailment or harm to any human anywhere has ever

been reported as a result of exposure to Deca, even among those who work

producing the material," Kyte says. "Potential concerns such as those

raised by this study are the reason scientists and regulators are looking

closely at this issue, and we support such monitoring and analysis."