Flame Retardants In Our Homes Are A Threat To Human Health

Flame Retardants In Our Homes Are A Threat To Human Health.
Flame retardants employed in a completely range of consumer products affectedness 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 beau retardants (BFRs and CFRs) are used in products such as televisions, computers, chamber phones, upholstered furniture, mattresses, carpet pads, textiles, airplanes and cars. These chemicals are accumulating in the setting and in humans, and some of them may harm unborn children, affect people's hormones, and may even frisk a role in causing cancer, according to the San Antonio Statement, named for the Texas megalopolis that hosted the 30th International Symposium of Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) abide month.

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

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

So "No one wants to curtailment fire safety, but the persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic properties of BFRs and CFRs should trigger the increase of safer alternatives," suggests the editorial. "Just as we have known for years that significant jeopardy to lead occurred via house dust, why has it taken us so long to penetrate 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 circumstances and wildlife? Why do we not learn from the past".

Flame retardants, in particular, polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs, are of urgent concern to children's health. Like other well-known toxic substances go for PCBs and dioxins, they are highly toxic and persistent in the environment. Measurements from around the world, including in Canada, show breathtaking increases in these substances in the environment, in food, in house dust, and in mamma milk natural-breast-success gdn. Also like PCBs and dioxins, these chemicals are harmful to children's developing brains.