News Coverage
California becomes first state in the nation to ban flame-retardant chemicals
Published August 9, 2003
California became the first state in the nation to ban flame-retardant chemicals known to accumulate in the blood of mothers and nursing babies.
Gov. Gray Davis signed the legislation into law Saturday during a ceremony at a neighborhood clinic. The ban won't take effect until Jan. 1, 2008. Manufacturers have said they need the time to find alternatives to the chemicals, commonly used to coat furniture, electronics, plastic and foam products.
"Flame retardant chemicals have no place in the fish we eat, they have no place in our bodies, and in the milk of nursing mothers. These chemicals are everywhere," Davis said before he signed the bill into law. "This bill will phase them out."
Studies show North American women have the highest levels of the chemicals, known as PBDEs, in the world, nearing levels shown to damage memory, behavior and learning in laboratory mice.
California researchers found Bay Area women have three to 10 times greater amounts of the chemical in their breast tissue than either European or Japanese women. A study by Indiana University researchers found levels in Indiana and California women and infants 20 times higher than in Sweden and Norway.
The chemicals remain in the environment for years and build up in the body over a lifetime, similar to PCBs and DDT, which was banned decades ago in the United States.
"Banning this chemical means that California's children will live healthier lives," said Dan Jacobson, legislative director of Environment California, the bill's sponsor.
Federal Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Mark Merchant said the agency is concerned about PBDEs and is gathering information and working with the industry on alternatives.
On the Net:
Industry's Bromine Science and Environmental Forum: http://www.bsef.org
Environmental Working Group: http://www.ewg.org/reports/taintedcatch/