Michigan: Lend your support to bill banning toxic chemical

Fighting fires shouldn't have toxic consequences. Unfortunately, some of the flame-retardants added to products from furniture to TVs to mattresses may do just that. One of the worst and most common of these chemicals is deca-BDE, which is similar to PCBs, chemicals once favored by industry but ultimately banned in the 1970s because of their toxicity and because they build up in people and wildlife. Fortunately, leading companies in Michigan and beyond are using safer, affordable, and effective alternatives.

The Michigan House is currently debating HB 4465, which would phase out deca-BDE in products where these alternatives are already in widespread use: TVs, computers, mattresses and upholstered furniture. We must ensure that fighting fires doesn't have toxic consequences.

Deca-BDE, and the rest of the chemicals in the PBDE (polybrominated diphenyl ether) family, are increasing dramatically in people in North America, including in the breast milk of women and fish in the Great Lakes. A recent report by a Michigan's Interdepartmental Toxics Steering Group declares that "PBDEs are of significant environmental concern because they are toxic, bioaccumulative, and persistent. Levels in humans and wildlife are increasing exponentially." The report calls on the legislature to ban deca-BDE contingent of the availability of a safe alternative, which is what HB 4465 would do. The full report can be found here (pdf).

Some deca-BDE migrates from common household products like TVs, mattresses, computers and furniture. It binds to household dust where it's readily accessible to kids, who live closest to the floor, frequently put their hands in their mouths, and whose brains and bodies are rapidly developing. A recent study has shown that small children accumulate more toxic deca-BDE in their bodies than their parents.

Michigan's fire fighters (including the Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union and the Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs) are supporting the bill to protect fire fighters from the toxic byproducts of deca-BDE combustion. They have noted that alternative flame-retardants can meet fire safety standards.

Deca-BDE and other PBDEs have been linked in laboratory animals with brain damage, delayed onset of puberty, liver tumors, and other problems. Leading companies like Dell, HP, Samsung, Phillips, Sealy, Herman Miller, Steelcase and La-Z-Boy have all stopped adding deca-BDE to their products. The alternatives they use are typically safer for our kids and the environment. They also prevent fire fighters from exposure to the noxious by-products of deca-BDE combustion. That's why the state's leading medical, health, and environmental organizations support HB 4465 to protect children from the potentially toxic effects of deca-BDE.

Unfortunately, HB 4465 has not yet passed, which is a testament to the lobbying might of the out-of-state chemical manufacturers that produce deca-BDE. This is despite the fact that the Legislature voted nearly unanimously to ban products containing the closely related flame-retardants penta-BDE and octa-BDE in 2004. We now know that deca-BDE can break down into these banned toxic chemicals.

Michigan should finish the job of protecting the Great Lakes and our children. Please tell your state Representative to support HB 4465 and urge immediate passage.