EPA: Company to Phase Out Flame Retardants

Associated Press, AP staff writer
Published November 3, 2003

WASHINGTON — An Indiana company has agreed to cease production voluntarily of two widely used flame-retardant chemicals by the end of 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday.

EPA said the Great Lakes Chemical Corp., of West Lafayette, Ind., will stop making Penta and Octa and quickly shift to safer alternatives. The chemicals are PBDEs - polybrominated diphenyl ethers - commonly used in upholstery, electronics and other foam and plastic products.

Agency officials said traces of the chemicals, part of a broader class known as brominated flame retardants, have been detected in both people and wildlife. Due to "potential concerns associated with the continued use of the chemicals," the agency said it may decide to allow no new uses of Penta or Octa in consumer products.

It said in a statement, however, that officials have not concluded that either Penta, used mainly in furniture foam, or Octa, used in plastics for personal computers and small appliances, pose an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment.

"EPA does not believe that there is a need to remove or replace products that may contain these chemicals," the agency statement said.

Great Lakes' decision followed a recent study by the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization. The group found the chemicals in the breast milk of each of 20 women it tested nationally.