Flame retardant and fire-resistant fabric are common features in clothing designed for the industrial sector. Firefighters may be the most frequent wearers of flame-retardant clothing; however, other professions including electricians and oil/gas drillers make use of it too. Although the idea of protecting textiles against fire has been around since roughly 400 BC, the notion of creating fireproof textiles did not gain prominence until the 17th century.
Flame Retardants Produce More Toxic Smoke
If an object doused in flame retardants catches fire —
yes, they can still catch fire — it gives off higher levels of carbon monoxide, soot, and smoke than untreated objects. Ironically, these three things are more likely to kill a person in a fire than burns, which means flame-retardant chemicals may actually make fires more deadly.
Flame-retardant chemicals belong to the same class of chemicals as DDT and PCBs (organohalogens) and, like the former, they too build up in the environment. These chemicals also react with other toxins as they burn to produce cancer causing dioxins and furans.
Flame-Retardant Chemicals Provide No Benefit for People
The chemical industry claims that fire-retardant products increase escape time in a fire by 15-fold. In reality, this claim came from a study using powerful NASA style flame retardants, and they did give an extra 15 seconds of escape time. However, this is not the same type of chemical used in most furniture, and government and independent studies show that the most widely used flame-retardant chemicals provide no benefit for people while increasing the amount of toxic chemicals in smoke.
Kids’ Exposure to Flame Retardants Linked to Neurodevelopmental Delays
PBDEs is the acronym for a class of chemicals called polybrominateddiphenyl ethers. PBDEs are one of the most common kinds of toxic flame retardant used in common household materials such as furniture, electronics, textiles, and vehicles, as well as in construction materials. PBDEs can migrate out of flame-retardant products and accumulate in indoor air, house dust, and eventually the general environment. PBDEs do not break down quickly in the environment, where they can enter the food chain. They have been found in air, soils, sediments, fish, marine mammals, birds and other wildlife, beef, chicken, dairy products, and people’s bodies. In people, some PBDEs can remain in the fat and other tissues of the body for long periods. It should come as no surprise that some of the highest levels of PBDEs have been found in the United States. The findings are particularly concerning because as many as 97% of all Americans have significant levels of PBDEs in their blood, which makes in utero exposure highly likely.PBDEs disrupt mechanisms that are responsible for releasing hormones in your body, as well as alter calcium signaling in your brain, which can adversely affect learning and memory. A recent study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley revealed that both in utero and childhood PBDE exposures were associated with poorer attention, fine motor coordination, and cognition in school-age children.
PBDEs disrupt mechanisms that are responsible for releasing hormones in your body. They can also alter calcium signaling in your brain, which can adversely affect learning and memory. A recent study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley revealed that both in utero and childhood PBDE exposures were associated with poorer attention, fine motor coordination, and cognition in school-age children.
Children are among those most at risk from PBDEs’ ability to disrupt and harm development. Products intended for children and babies are also those most likely to be doused in flame-retardant chemicals. For instance, such chemicals were recently detected in 60% of 2011 car seats tested by The Ecology Center, most likely in the polyurethane foam. A separate study in Environmental Science & Technology also detected flame-retardant chemicals in 80% of the nursing pillows, baby carriers, car seats, changing table pads, highchairs, strollers, bassinets, portable cribs, walkers, baby tub inserts and bath slings, glider rockers, and sleeping wedges tested.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “ … there is growing evidence that PBDE chemicals bioaccumulate and are persistent in the environment, and that people are being exposed to them. For example, traces of the chemicals have been found in fish, in samples of human blood, and in women’s breast milk. Also, there is evidence that these chemicals may cause liver toxicity, thyroid toxicity, and neurodevelopmental toxicity.”
Higher exposures to PBDEs have been linked to decreased fertility, which could be in part because the chemicals may mimic thyroid hormones.
There are several steps you can take to decrease your exposure to these chemicals:
1. Buy products made with natural fibers (like cotton and wool) that are naturally fire resistant and may contain fewer chemicals.
2. Eliminate the use of fabric softeners that contain these chemicals. Use wool balls to fluff up clothes in the dryer instead.
3. Look for furniture without flame retardants.
4. Use a HEPA filter in your vacuum cleaner.
5. Eliminate carpeting from your home, especially if you have children.
