Flame Retardants In Our Homes Are A Threat To Human Health

Flame Retardants In Our Homes Are A Threat To Human Health.
Flame retardants second-hand in a completely range of consumer products pretence a threat to human health and may not even be all that effective, according to a statement signed by nearly 150 scientists from 22 countries. Brominated and chlorinated girlfriend retardants (BFRs and CFRs) are used in products such as televisions, computers, cubicle phones, upholstered furniture, mattresses, carpet pads, textiles, airplanes and cars. These chemicals are accumulating in the habitat and in humans, and some of them may harm unborn children, affect people's hormones, and may even attention a role in causing cancer, according to the San Antonio Statement, named for the Texas see that hosted the 30th International Symposium of Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) closing month.

The statement said that "BFRs and CFRs can increase fire toxicity and their overall advance in improving fire safety has not been proven". It also states that these fire retardants "can proliferate the release of carbon monoxide, toxic gases and soot, which are the cause of most fire deaths and injuries".

The annunciation called on manufacturers to provide more information about the toxicity testing of these flame retardants and for governments to react to the health and environmental threats posed by BFRs and CFRs. The statement and an accompanying article were released online Oct 28, 2010 ahead of print in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

So "No one wants to shrinking fire safety, but the persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic properties of BFRs and CFRs should trigger the event of safer alternatives," suggests the editorial. "Just as we have known for years that significant publishing to lead occurred via house dust, why has it taken us so long to perceive that BFRs and CFRs, which are used in consumer products, can also escape into house, office, car and airplane dust, and will also end up in people, as well as the milieu and wildlife? Why do we not learn from the past".

Flame retardants, in particular, polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs, are of acute concern to children's health. Like other well-known toxic substances counterpart PCBs and dioxins, they are highly toxic and persistent in the environment. Measurements from around the world, including in Canada, show startling increases in these substances in the environment, in food, in house dust, and in bust milk malehelp.men. Also like PCBs and dioxins, these chemicals are harmful to children's developing brains.