Maine: State law provides model for protecting children's health

In the first nationwide investigation of chemical fire retardants in parents and their children, Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that toddlers and pre-schoolers typically had three times more of the neurotoxic compounds in their blood as their mothers.

Maine has banned the fire retardants and may be looked to as an example as other states consider similar bans.

The study suggests that U.S. children 1 to 4 years of age bear the heaviest burden of flame retardant pollution in the industrialized world.

Laboratory tests – conducted in collaboration with Dr. Åke Bergman, a preeminent environmental chemist – found that in 19 of 20 U.S. families, concentrations of the toxic chemicals known as PBDEs were significantly higher in 1- to 4-year-old children than in their mothers. The tests found the fire retardant Deca, which is banned in Maine but unregulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more often and in higher amounts in U.S. children than their mothers.

“The federal government needs to follow Maine’s lead and ban this fire retardant which can harm children’s developing brains and reproductive systems.  America’s children are bearing the burden of an unresponsive federal chemicals policy,” said Amanda Sears, Associate Director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center, a Maine based public health organization that spearheaded the successful campaign to phase out the use of PBDE’s in products sold in Maine in favor of safer alternatives.

Toxic fire retardants in everyday items like furniture, sofas, televisions and computers could expose children to concentrations exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended safe level. Children ingest more fire retardants and other toxins when they put their hands, toys and other objects in their mouths.

Children’s developing brains and reproductive systems are extraordinarily vulnerable to toxic chemicals. In the case of PBDEs, laboratory tests in peer-reviewed studies have found that a single dose administered to mice on a day when the brain is growing rapidly can cause permanent changes to behavior, including hyperactivity.

“These chemicals are everywhere - in food, in our homes and schools,” said Laurie Yung of Missoula, Mont., who was tested along with her 3-year-old son, Conner. “We need laws to protect us from exposure not only to these chemicals, but that will make sure chemicals are safe for kids before they’re allowed on the market.”

Even as the chemical industry insists Deca is safe, the European Union has banned it from use, 10 U.S. states are considering or have enacted legislative bans, and major electronics manufacturers including Nokia, Sony-Ericsson and Samsung no longer use Deca and are phasing out other bromine-based fire retardants.

View the full results and report at www.ewg.org.