Press-Enterprise, Janet Zimmerman
Published September 3, 2008
Chemicals from fire retardants used in many household products, from car seats and mattresses to computers and curling irons, concentrate in higher levels in the bodies of young children than in their mothers, according a study released today by an environmental group.
Scientists from the Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C., evaluated 20 mothers and their children, ages 1½ to 4, from around the nation. The chemicals were about three times higher in the youngsters' bloodstreams, said Dr. Anila Jacob, one of the study's authors.
"Young children are very vulnerable to toxic chemicals," Jacob said. "Their organs are still developing, and it may result in permanent damage."
Commonly known as PBDEs, polybrominated diphenyl ethers have been linked in animal studies to learning, memory and behavior problems and disruption of thyroid and reproductive hormones, Jacob said. The study involved 11 flame retardant chemicals.
Two of the chemicals, Penta and Octa, have been banned in the United States and Europe, though they remain in products made before the ban and in those imported from other countries.
Several states have outlawed use of a third PBDE chemical, Deca, which is commonly used in electronics. In California, Assembly Bill 706 proposes a ban on certain fire retardants, including Deca, in furniture and bedding to take effect in 2010.
A spokesman for flame-retardant manufacturers said Deca has been found to be safe for continued use, and that the industry supports ongoing monitoring and analysis for safety.
Some of the mothers in the study had no Deca in their systems, and levels found among children were low, said John Kyte, spokesman for The Bromine Science and Environmental Forum, a trade group of manufacturers of flame retardants.
Based on blood samples taken for the study, Deca was found in 65 percent of children and 45 percent of mothers.
Flame retardants are important because they keep fires from starting and slow the progress of those that do occur, Kyte said.
"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 said.
No studies have determined the short- and long-term effects of PBDE exposure in humans, according to the environmental group.
"When a toxic chemical poses risks to animals, why wouldn't it pose a risk to 1-, 2- or 3-year-olds? We don't know, so why should we risk it?" said Alex Formuzis, spokesman for the Environmental Working Group.
Bronwyn Leebaw, of Riverside, was distressed to learn that her son, Teo, who was 2 at the time he was tested, had almost five times the amount of the chemicals in his bloodstream as she did.
Leebaw, 36, an assistant professor of political science at UC Riverside, said she made many changes after finding out the results of the study. Leebaw said she removed all foam furniture from her house and replaced Teo's car seat; she also carefully monitors what her 9-month-old daughter puts in her mouth.
"Teo might have been sucking on old cell phones when he was a baby. Now I'm much more aware of the potential hazards," Leebaw said.
This is the first study in the United States to examine levels of the chemicals in children.
Margarita Curras-Collazo is an associate professor of cell biology and neuroscience at UCR who researched hormone disruption by the chemicals in rat tissue and linked them to potential problems with learning and memory. She praised the Environmental Working Group study.
It was larger scale than a previous U.S. study, which examined PBDE levels in a single family, and it included families from across the country, said Curras-Collazo, who was not involved in the study.
Young children are more susceptible to contamination because they crawl on the floor where dust from PBDEs can accumulate and because they put things in their mouths, she said. In other studies, PBDEs were found in breast milk.
"There hasn't been any systematic study in what these chemicals are doing to all the systems of the body. Once you affect that critical window of development and you stop the exposure, it may be too late. Children don't have these highly developed ways of detoxifying chemicals like (adults) do," she said.
Kristi Chester Vance, of San Francisco, chose not to know the results of the PBDE levels for herself and her daughter Stella, now 4, because of the anxiety it would create.
"It includes your car seats and your baby's mattress and every electronic in our house," said Vance, 34, an environmental activist.
As a result of the study, she has stopped using her laptop computer on her lap and damp mops her floors more often for potentially hazardous dust.
"When you're given information about your child's health that you're not able to address, it's a terrible predicament to put parents in," she said.
