Food Consumer, Molly Hurford
Published April 7, 2007
Olympia, Washington.- Washington has become the first state in the U.S. to phase out certain fireproofing chemicals widely used in household products including televisions, computers, and upholstered furniture, thanks to a measure passed by the Senate on Tuesday.
The bill, which mandates slow phase-out of the dangerous chemical polybrominated diphenyl ethers, known as PBDEs, passed 41-8, and now only needs the signature of Gov. Chris Gregoire, who is expected to sign it.
The bill will prohibit the manufacture, sale and distribution of the "deca" form of PBDE in things like the black casing found on TVs. The other two forms of PBDE, penta and octa, are no longer used in the US after companies voluntarily stopped using them in 2004. Companies including IKEA, Dell, Canon, and Sony have already completely stopped using PBDEs.
Similar to Polychlorinated biphenyls ( PCBs), which were banned in 1977
after being linked to cancer and environmental and human buildup, the PBDEs have also been found to build up in people. Some scientists have said that most Americans already carry levels of PBDEs that have been found to cause permanent and serious neurological damage in laboratory animals.
The dissenting voices regarding the bill in the Senate were overwhelmingly Republicans, who argued against the bill on the grounds that the harmfulness of the deca form is still unknown.
"We have no reports of deaths, illnesses, injuries due to deca," said Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside. Other senators questioned the effectiveness of the alternatives to the deca.
However, the state fire marshall and state associations of fire chiefs and firefighters sided with the majority of the senate, and endorsed the bill, saying that it was a step in improving the health of people as well as the environment.
"This is the time," says Sen. Debbie Regala, D-Tacoma, "We know that these chemicals are ubiquitous, both in our bodies and our environment."
If the bill is signed by the governor, mattresses with deca PBDEs would be banned starting in 2008, and by 2011, deca would be banned in all
upholstered furniture and televisions and computers containing electronic enclosures.
Exceptions to the bill would include sales of used cars before 2008, safety systems required by the Federal Aviation Administration, and medical devices.
By December of 2008, state departments of Ecology and Health would have to, in conjunction with a fire safety committee including the director of fire protection and the executive director of the Washington Fire Chiefs, would have to review alternatives to the deca, and report to the Legislature.
Hopes for success in other states trying to pass similar bills have been raised, and Richard Wiles, executive director of the Environmental Working Group, has expressed a hope that the ban in Washington could "boost similar efforts in states across the country and set the stage for a national ban."
Editor¹s note: These so called flame retardants have been banned in Europe years ago due to the concern of their potential negative impact on human health and the environment. The chemistry of PBDEs is similar to that of the banned flame retardants PCBs. There should be no reason not to ban PBDEs now that PCBs have been banned.
The industry or even the government often justifies sales of the products on the market by reasoning that if you do not have evidence to show toxicity of a product, the product must be safe to use or eat, which is not true. Not all toxicity can be easily detected. Some toxic effects are of long term and some are mixed with other risk factors. There is no direct evidence to prove the toxicity of a product sometimes because of human incapability, not because the product is safe.
