New Scientific Evidence Against Deca-BDE and Other Brominated Flame Retardants Continues to Mount

“Deca-BDE is more of a problem than perhaps realized and we do have a number of arguments now to ban it. We know it is accumulating in birds of prey and seeing it in mother’s milk is a bad observation.”

— Dr. Ake Bergman, Stockholm University chemist who conducted the first studies on BFR uptake in the human body, quoted in the Los Angeles Times, August 24, 2003.

For the past decade, governments, businesses and independent organizations have documented the growing presence of PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) as global contaminants in humans and the environment. All the early warning signs that were in place for PCBs, dioxins and lead, are in place for PBDEs, now known as the “PCBs of the 21st century.”

Recent studies are confirming the hazards posed by Deca-BDE, including:

The widespread presence of Deca-BDE in human blood and breast milk, food, household dust and wildlife. Deca, which was supposed to be non-dispersive, is now being found from our homes to remote regions of the world.

“We were thinking that [Deca-BDE] will not enter the biological system and it will not be bioavailable, but this has been proven wrong.”

— Mehran Alaee, research scientist, Canada’s National Water Research Institute, 2003

Deca-BDE is breaking down — “debromination” — into other PBDE compounds that bioaccumulate up the food chain, including octa-BDE which has been banned in Maine, California, and the European Union. New research shows Deca-BDE debromination in the abiotic environment, particularly sewage sludge where, it is transforming into forms of PBDEs well known for their ability to bio-accumulate up the food chain. As researchers have noted: “This is an important finding because the inventory of BDE-209 (deca) in soil and sediment is expected to increase over the next few decades, given the continuous use and emission of BDE-209.”

Toxicity: initial animal studies are showing evidence of adverse effects on thyroid function and neurological development. The thyroid hormone regulates growth and general development in the newborn child. It has long been known that a small decrease in thyroid hormone levels can produce cognitive impairment in children, including lowered IQ. Thyroid effects and neurotoxicity are common to other PBDEs that have been banned, including penta-and octa-BDE.

“People love to think that we’re different from other animals. But at the cellular level, we are fundamentally the same.”

— Dr. L. Guillette, University of Florida wildlife endocrinologist

Click on the links below to learn more about scientific concerns on deca-BDE

Brominated Flame Retardants: Assessing Deca-BDE Debromination in the Environment Degradation of Deca.  Summary by Dept of Ecology, Washington State, USA Toxic At Any Speed: Chemicals in Cars and the Need for Safe Alternatives Presentations from BFR2006 held in Toronto, Canada June 24–27, 2006 now on line at www.bfr2006.org Scientific Critique of the European Union’s Controversial Risk Assessment on Deca-BDE Press Release for Critique Rising Levels of Concern: Brominated Flame Retardants Top European Scientific Advisory Committee Voices Concerns over Deca-BDE Risk Assessment Widespread Dispersal of Deca-BDE in Office Dust A New Record for PBDEs in People Draft Human Health Risk Assessment on Deca Draft Environmental Risk Assessment on Deca

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