Toxic-Free Communities News

Three new reports affirm goals of House Bill 1421, which would phase out decaBDE in applications where alternatives are available. DecaBDE and its byproducts are toxics known to accumulate in human blood and breast milk.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Two national experts on the toxicology of and alternatives to the widely-used chemical flame retardant deca-bromodiphenylether (decaBDE) today urged Illinois to prohibit its most common uses. Citing the existence of safer alternatives for all of decaBDE's uses and evidence that decaBDE breaks down in living organisms into dioxins and chemicals already banned by the legislature, Drs. Heather Stapleton and Mark Rossi today endorsed House Bill 1421, which would phase out its use in televisions and other electronics, bedding, and residential upholstered furniture.

Their testimony at a press conference today comes on the same day as the bill’s hearing before the House Environmental Committee, as well as the release of three different reports, the findings of which all affirm the goals of HB 1421.

“We know that 44% of worldwide decaBDE use occurs in North America and that our bodies are stockpiling this toxic at alarming rates,” said State Representative Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook). "That's why I, along with legislators in Michigan, Minnesota, and other states, have introduced common sense legislation to eliminate its use in the applications where alternatives are most readily available."

"Deca's days are done" said Max Muller, Environmental Advocate at Environment Illinois." The three reports released today are just three more nails in its coffin. Reports from Michigan, Maine, Washington, Denmark, Germany, and others have all concluded similarly. We know that decaBDE and its breakdown products are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic, that they endanger our children and the environment, and decaBDE is cheaply substituted and therefore unnecessary. It's time to stop deliberately putting decaBDE in products sold to Illinois families."

More than 50 million pounds of decaBDE, the last of the toxic PBDE family of flame retardants still legal in Illinois, are built into TVs, home furnishings, automobiles and other products annually in North America. Due to its tendency to leach from products and propensity for airborne transport, decaBDE is found worldwide in increasing concentrations in polar bear blood, sewage sludge, food, water, and even human blood and mothers' breast milk. Several studies suggest decaBDE is neurotoxic, but the greater concern is its breakdown in nature into even more toxic chemicals.

"Scientific studies have shown that exposure to natural sunlight can degrade decaBDE into smaller molecules that are components of the PentaBDE and OctaBDE, commercial mixtures already banned in Illinois," said Dr. Heather Stapleton, an Environmental Chemist at Duke University. "This is a concern because these smaller molecules are more persistent, bioaccumulative and potentially more toxic than the parent decaBDE. If we continue to use decaBDE in such high volumes, we risk human exposure to these persistent chemicals for decades to come."

Like other toxics, decaBDE is likely most dangerous to infants and developing children, and it is children who are most exposed. Studies suggest young children receive up to 300 times greater exposure to PBDEs than adults, primarily from breast milk and inadvertent dust ingestion. PBDEs can also endanger firefighters. According to the International Association of Firefighters "Unlike other flame retardants, when PBDEs burn, they release dense fumes, black smoke that reduce visibility, and the highly corrosive gas known as hydrogen bromide." The Associated Firefighters of Illinois, Illinois Firefighters Association, and Illinois Fire Safety Alliance support decaBDE phase-out.

In Lake Michigan, PBDEs amass in top predator fish, such as salmon and trout, to the same extent as its chemical cousins, the notorious PCBs, which were banned 30 years ago but are still the number one cause of advisories against fish consumption in Illinois. Lake Michigan's fish PBDE concentrations have been found to be among the highest of open water fish anywhere in the world. If their use is not curtailed, PBDEs could surpass PCBs to become Lake Michigan's main contaminant.

Affordable, less toxic flame retardants are available for all decaBDE uses. Textiles can use naturally flame resistant additives including boric acid and phosphates. Electronics manufacturers sometimes use inherently non-flammable metal casings, but also can choose from other chemical additive flame retardants. Clean Production Action, which works with companies to promote environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, today released a new report, the Green Screen for Safer Chemicals, which compares the safety of three chemical additive flame retardants used in TVs and found that one of the alternatives, resorcinol bis(diphenylphosphate), or RDP, is safer than decaBDE because it is does not persist in the environment and is less accumulative in living organisms.

“U.S. manufacturers are already phasing out decaBDE, but it’s not surprising that the European Union, which generally protects its citizens from toxics exposure better than the United States, is much further along in eliminating decaBDE," said Dr. Mark Rossi, Clean Production Action’s Research Director. "Manufacturers of TVs sold in Europe meet the highest fire safety standards without using decaBDE.”

Illinois's Environmental Protection Agency today released its comprehensive survey of recent research on decaBDE's toxicity and alternatives. The IEPA report confirms that decaBDE breaks down into molecules that are more toxic and may mimic human estrogen and thyroid hormones. The report also finds that alternative flame retardants are available across all industries currently using decaBDE, and with little to no cost barrier.

A third study, Healthy Cars 2007, released today, by the Michigan-based Ecology Center, further confirms that alternatives to decaBDE are readily available. It found that auto manufacturers have significantly phased out decaBDE and that for every car component studied, numerous decaBDE-free models are available on the market.

In 2005, Rep. Nekritz sponsored successful legislation banning products containing two kinds of PBDEs known as pentaBDE and octaBDE, and now these two chemicals are off the market. HB 1421 would address the last of PBDEs still in use in Illinois.

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