News Coverage
EPA will phase out flame retardant chemical found in breast milk
Published November 7, 2003
The Environmental Protection Agency is moving to phase out some toxic flame-retardant chemicals that have shown up in high levels in the breast milk of American women, including one in Missouri.
The EPA announced this week that a major manufacturer of two widely used brominated flame retardants would phase out their production by the end of next year because of health concerns. Great Lakes Chemical Corp. of West Lafayette, Ind., will replace the chemicals, known as Penta and Octa, with a product deemed to be safer.
Some studies have shown that brominated flame retardants disrupt hormones and interfere with brain development. The EPA has not found that the chemicals pose an unreasonable threat, but the agency was concerned because the chemicals are widespread and don't break down easily. Flame retardants have been found as far afield as the Arctic Circle, in polar bears and in the breast milk of Inuit women.
Americans appear to be exposed at particularly high levels, according to a recent study by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group that supports banning the chemicals. Breast milk from 20 American volunteers had levels more than 25 times higher than the median level detected in recent studies in Europe, where some of the chemicals have been banned.
Darcy White, a new mother in Raytown, Mo., a suburb of Kansas City, had more than 1,000 parts per billion of the chemicals in her breast milk - among the highest levels ever recorded.
"There may be only a couple of other measurements in breast milk worldwide that went that high," said Bill Walker, vice president of the environmental group's West Coast office in Oakland, Calif. "The fact that levels were that high did surprise us."
The environmental group's study found a median level of 58 parts per billion, compared with a median level of 2 parts per billion in a Swedish study last year.
A study this year at the University of Texas found levels ranging from 5 to 418 parts per billion in breast milk.
White, 30, said she would never know if the chemicals affected her daughter, Katelyn, who is 8 months old. White would like to see the chemicals banned.
"Since they do have a safer alternative, why are they poisoning us when they don't have to?" she said.
Chemically similar to PCBs, brominated flame retardants are used to prevent the spread of fires in foam, furniture backing, computers, televisions and cars.
The EPA has given preliminary approval to a Penta substitute called Firemaster 550, which the agency says does not build up in the environment. The EPA said it would discuss a voluntary phase-out with other manufacturers.
Despite the presence of the chemicals in breast milk, health authorities agree that women should continue breast-feeding their babies. Breast milk contains nutrients that help babies develop optimally and may even counteract the negative effects of toxins.